MUMBAI: Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd's media fund Macquarie Media Group has bought Taiwan's cable TV operator Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) for A$1.19 billion. This is the organisation's maiden offshore acquisition since its listing last month.

A Reuters report has quoted the deal's fund management executive as saying that the huge growth potential offered by internet and telephony services has inspired Macquarie to plan the buy out. The acquisition will be complete by the first quarter of 2006.

Taiwan Broadband Communications is Taiwan's third largest cable operator with nearly 600,000 subscribers. Formed by the joint investment of The Carlyle Group Asia and Shin Kong Group, TBC offers services such as cable television, digital video, High Speed Internet, VoIP, and Wi-Fi.