Telefonica and Al Jazeera are discussing a possible shared ownership of Canal+ to gain regulatory clearance for the Spanish telco’s agreed pay-TV acquisition, reports El Confidencial. The Qatari media group would likely be most interested in…
Telefonica and Al Jazeera are discussing a possible shared ownership of Canal+ to gain regulatory clearance for the Spanish telco’s agreed pay-TV acquisition, reports El Confidencial. The Qatari media group would likely be most interested in the Spanish football rights belonging to Canal+.
If Telefonica were to end up owning less than 50% of Canal+ (also known as Distribuidora de Television), it could resolve domestic and European competition hurdles. Having a financial partner to help buy football rights, something the Spanish government is looking to sell as a package for the first time for a reported €700m, would also be beneficial, the report said.
Spokespeople for both companies declined comment.
Al Jazeera had reportedly been stalking Canal+ via its local partner production house Mediapro, but was beaten out by existing shareholder Telefonica. Qatar Airways, the main sponsor of FC Barcelona, is thought to have helped Telefonica win the team’s broadcasting rights. This is reportedly part of a tacit agreement between the emirate and the telco resulting from 18 months of talks, which started when Qatar voiced interest in becoming a Telefonica shareholder, something that has not been ruled out in the context of the €3bn rights issue announced last month. The article notes that Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a member of the Qatari royal family, acquired Digiturk for some US$820m as part of a move to grow Al Jazeera Sports. Qataris also own Paris St Germain, another football team, via Qatar Sports Investments.
Telefonica agreed last May to buy out Canal+ from its Spanish and Italian co-owners Prisa and Mediaset for €1.045bn, but has yet to receive approval from Spanish national competition watchdog the CNMC. It is also facing potential monopoly concerns from the European Commission, since together the companies would control 80% of the pay-TV market.
Telefonica has so far been against CNMC requirements that it share content and TV rights with rivals such as Orange, which is amid its own regulatory review over its agreed purchase of fixed-line telco Jazztel, and Vodafone, which now owns cableco Ono.
It has said that it could “lose interest” in the transaction, if the CNMC did not soften its demands, especially around football rights. It has also applied pressure on the government, saying that if it was obliged to share fibre – as part of a separate measure – it would stop investing in high speed networks.
CEO Cesar Alierta, who has reportedly been lobbying government ministers, told analysts at full year results in February that he was “reasonably optimistic” that the Canal+ deal would be approved and completed “within the next two months”.
European telcos are showing renewed post-recession vigour, carrying out domestic consolidation while also bolstering their position in pay-TV via M&A and partnerships. BT has bought UK sport rights, Orange last week announced an incipient telecoms and media partnership with former rival Vivendi, while Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano has said he too is in favour of partnerships with the likes of Mediaset and Sky. Aggressive expansionist Altice, for its part, has vowed to become a distributor and then a producer of content.
