Spain’s watchdog CNMC approved Telefonica’s 56% acquisition of Canal+ (DTS) last night after a nine month review.
The market and competition regulator has cleared the deal under the condition that Telefonica shares 100% of its premium channels,…
Spain’s watchdog CNMC approved Telefonica’s 56% acquisition of Canal+ (DTS) last night after a nine month review.
The market and competition regulator has cleared the deal under the condition that Telefonica shares 100% of its premium channels, including all its football content, CNMC said in a statement.
Furthermore, as part of the agreement, the authority has reduced the telco’s exclusivity period with clients to two years.
Telefonica currently owns 44% of Canal+, also known as Distribuidora de Television Digital. It agreed to buy a 56% stake from media conglomerate Prisa in May for €750m (US$792m), but will reportedly pay €725m (US$779m) as its value has since reduced.
The deal triggered competition concerns – especially from rivals Orange and Vodafone – because the combined Canal+/Movistar TV (which Telefonica already owns) would control 85% of the market by revenue and 70% by subscriber numbers.They have demanded that Telefonica resell at least 75% of premium content.
Julio Gomez, head of regulation at Orange Spain, was last week quoted saying that the initial conditions for approving the deal “would not just affect the TV sector, but also have a negative impact on telecom services competition, leaving rivals with no way of competing with Telefonica”.
Earlier in the month, rumours emerged that Telefonica and Al Jazeera were discussing a possible shared ownership of Canal+ to gain regulatory clearance for the deal and that the Qatari media group was particularly interested in Canal + Spanish football rights.
The deal is the first large merger to be approved by the unified regulator in its nearly two years of existence.
