French media group Vivendi is believed to be in discussions with Polish media conglomerate ITI Group to acquire a stake in Polish satellite broadcaster TVN.
SatelliteFinance understands that French pay-TV group Canal+, which is 80%-owned by Vivendi, has…
French media group Vivendi is believed to be in discussions with Polish media conglomerate ITI Group to acquire a stake in Polish satellite broadcaster TVN.
SatelliteFinance understands that French pay-TV group Canal+, which is 80%-owned by Vivendi, has hired Barclays and BoA Merrill Lynch to advise it on a potential transaction.
On 27 October, the French DTH operator released a statement saying that “Canal+, ITI and TVN Groups are entering into exclusive negotiations to create a strategic partnership in Poland.”
When contacted, Vivendi, Canal+ and TVN declined to further comment on this partnership. But SatelliteFinance understands that the move could result in an acquisition deal between the two companies.
In early July, ITI confirmed that, along with its financial advisers JP Morgan and Nomura, it was reviewing its strategic options for its 56.21% stake in TVN, reportedly valued at as much as PLN6.8bn (US$2.5bn).
Originally, it was suggested that five potential buyers had been approached: Vivendi; Discovery Communications; Time Warner; Bertelsmann, which owns the RTL Group; and Fox Broadcasting Company. It was later reported that Vivendi and Time Warner were the two front-runners. But a person close to the matter told SatelliteFinance that Time Warner has now dropped out of the race, leaving Vivendi as the only bidder.
A deal between TVN and Vivendi could trigger some consolidation in the country, which is currently populated with five DTH platforms: Cyfra +; Cyfrowy Polsat; TPSA; Telewizja na Karte (TNK); and ‘n’.
TVN owns ‘n’, which it acquired outright in April 2010 purchasing the minority 49% stake that it did not already own. It also owns TNK, while Canal+ controls Cyfra+.
In early August, it was also reported that French incumbent France Telecom might consider a potential partnership with another bidder to acquire a stake in TVN.
FT and Polish incumbent Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) together own DTH platform TPSA in the country.
But a spokesperson for FT told SatelliteFinance at the time that the company had no intention to buy a stake on its own, and that it would only potentially consider taking a minority interest if it is invited to join a partnership with another company.
It is now understood that the talks are exclusively between Canal+, ITI and TVN.
If a deal is agreed, it would be another large transaction for the French pay-TV operator in just a few weeks.
In early September, Canal+ announced it would buy a 60% stake in local rival Bolloré Media in a deal worth €279m (US$383m), as it looks to compete with the rapid increase in online television offerings.
