France’s antitrust regulator has announced plans to impose new conditions on local DTH firm Canal+’s 2006 merger with rival TPS.
Canal+ said on 23 July that it planned to appeal the ruling from the autorité de la concurrence, because it did not…
France’s antitrust regulator has announced plans to impose new conditions on local DTH firm Canal+’s 2006 merger with rival TPS.
Canal+ said on 23 July that it planned to appeal the ruling from the autorité de la concurrence, because it did not agree with the remedies being placed on the deal. These remedies, designed to increase competition in the sector, include forcing Canal+ to sell its 33% stake in Orange Cinéma Séries, the content distributor it shares with France Telecom.
The DTH firm’s ability to purchase film rights would also be strictly controlled under the new competition rules.
The autorité de la concurrence’s ruling will not come as a surprise to some, as discussions it was having with French regulator CSA about the proposals were leaked to local publication Le Point earlier this year.
Following indications in May that the merger was set for strict conditions, a Canal+ spokesman warned that the move would hamper its ability to invest in French and European content.
Approval for the TPS acquisition was originally given the green-light by France’s Ministry of Economy six years ago, but this was withdrawn by the autorité de la concurrence in September 2011. The antitrust regulator said it withdrew approval for the deal after identifying that Canal+ had failed to fulfil ten of the 59 commitments that were imposed as part of the agreement back in 2006.
Bollore Media channels deal approved
It was not all bad news for Canal+, as the autorité de la concurrence also gave conditional approval for its acquisition of a 60% stake in two channels owned by local rival Bollore Media.
As with the TPS acquisition, this deal also entered a Phase 2 investigation, because it sees Canal+, which is already the dominant player in France’s pay-TV market, expanding into the freeview market.
Canal+ said it welcomed the decision, in spite of the regulator also imposing film rights purchasing control remedies as a condition of its approval for the deal, which sees the DTH firm acquire the Direct 8 and Direct Star channels, in return for shares in its parent group Vivendi worth around €279m (US$383m).
