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BERLIN � Eager to expand its Internet activities, pay platform Premiere has acquired 65% of Home of Hardware (www.hoh.de), one of Germany's leading online shops for consumer electronics and software.

Premiere said the acquisition would make it possible to increase its own online marketing by offering package deals that bundle pay-TV subscriptions with hardware such as high-definition flatscreen TV sets and receivers in addition to offering all Premiere products over the Web site.

Launched in 1997, HOH has annual revenue of some Euros 40 million ($54.2 million).

For Premiere, the technology-savvy consumers of online shops such as HOH count among the pay-TV platform's prime clientele. The paybox currently has some 3.5 million subscribers.

Deal has already been approved by Germany's antitrust authorities.