Macquarie Bank acquires interest in Taiwan Broadband Communications

19 December 2005

Macquarie Bank today announced that, together with Macquarie Media Group (MMG), it has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire The Carlyle Group’s interest in Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) for a total consideration of A$1,189 million.

Macquarie Bank will subscribe for a 40% shareholding in the ordinary equity of TBC for approximately A$274 million, with the remainder of the ordinary equity to be provided by MMG. The balance of the acquisition will be debt funded.

TBC is one of the four leading providers of cable television services in Taiwan with approximately 650,000 basic cable TV subscribers and 90,000 internet subscribers as of end of September 2005.

Macquarie Bank and MMG intend to retain the existing management of TBC. The existing CEO, Mr David Dea, and his management team will continue to run the business, as they have for the last six years.

Macquarie Bank Chief Financial Officer, Greg Ward, said TBC is a privileged asset with stable cash flows, high barriers to entry and multiple avenues to grow its services and customer base.

“TBC is an attractive business offering strong cash flow and yield characteristics but which also has opportunities to grow since broadband penetration levels in Taiwan are expected to continue to grow rapidly over the next 3 to 5 years and the company has an ability to add extra services at relatively low incremental cost” he said.

The acquisition will reduce Macquarie’s Tier 1 capital ratio by approximately 1.17% during the holding period.

MMG intends to sell down to a lower level controlling shareholding in the near term. Macquarie Bank Group also intends to sell down its interest in TBC at the same time.

Financial settlement of the acquisition is expected to occur during the first quarter of calendar year 2006, being subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approvals.

For further information, please contact:

Jenny Kovacs
Investor Relations
Macquarie Bank Limited
Tel: (612) 8232 3250
Mobile: (614) 1354 6547

Matthew Russell
Public Relations
Macquarie Bank Limited
Tel: (612) 8232 4102
Mobile: (614) 1069 9532