French media group Vivendi and Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset are close to finalising a share swap agreement of around 3.5 percent of capital that will give Vivendi control of the Mediaset Premium pay-TV platform, according to several press reports. The swap will be perfected via Vivendi and Mediaset treasury shares, said business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, adding that a draft deal could be reached this week, with the two companies agreeing to include members on their respective boards. The ultimate aim of the Vivendi-Mediaset agreement is to create an integrated pan-European pay-TV platform and content production to counter the growing popularity of Netflix and Sky.
Separately, Variety reports that the newly created OTT platform would merge Mediaset’s separately operated Infinity Italy and Infinity Spain services with Vivendi’s German OTT service Watchever. The report adds that Vivendi is also in talks to acquire a stake in Italian film and TV production company Cattleya.
