Telefonica has announced that it has closed the acquisition of Spanish pay-TV platform Digital+ from media group Prisa. In a statement to Spain's market regulator CNMV, Telefonica said it had bought the 56 percent stake owned by Prisa for EUR 750 million to raise its stake in the broadcaster to 78 percent. The final price is EUR 25 million higher than the figure initially agreed between the two companies. The remaining 22 percent is held by the Spanish unit of Italian broadcaster Mediaset, which will have 15 days counting from the date of communication of the terms of the agreement by the board of Digital+ to exercise its right of first refusal.
The chairman of Telefonica, Cesar Alierta, described the deal, which will be subject to approval from Spanish or European regulators, as "very positive", adding that "this agreement is a significant step forward in the process of transforming the company into a leading digital telecoms operator.” The acquisition of Digital+ brings with it a large customer base in the form of the 1.6 million subscribers to pay-TV channel Canal+ and gives Telefonica access to Prisa’s TV catalogue, including its rights to live Spanish football games.
However, Telefonica’s main rivals in Spain – Vodafone and Orange – have denounced the deal on the grounds that it will allow Telefonica to offer convergent packages that cannot be matched by other companies. The operators have called on Spain’s communications regulator CNMC to prohibit the transaction or impose conditions to ensure that competition in the telecoms market is not affected.
