Rapid TVNews reports that the pay-TV merger between Showtime Arabia and rival Orbit was concluded on time at the end of last month, according to reports out of Kuwait on Aug 11. A statement from Kuwait-based Kipco said the agreement was formally wrapped on July 31.The deal was announced last month, although no official valuation was given other than a very vague statement that the merger was worth “billions”. Neither was any information given as to who initiated the “merger”, although it is widely spoken of as a Showtime Arabia initiative. Showtime Arabia had reportedly bought out its Viacom minority partner in its Gulf-DTH operation. Kipco, an investment vehicle ultimately controlled by the Kuwait royal family, already controlled 75.3% of Gulf-DTH.

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