Vivendi has discussed a content sharing deal with Mediaset but is not interested in acquiring the company's TV operations, according to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose family controls Mediaset. Berlusconi was responding on Italian radio to a report claiming the two companies had agreed a share-swap deal involving Mediaset's TV business, according to the Financial Times.
The French company was reported on 10 March to be close to acquiring the Mediaset Premium pay-TV unit in a cash and shares deal. Mediaset owns an 89 percent stake in the unit and the remaining 11 percent is held by Telefonica, which acquired it in 2014 for EUR 100 million.
The same report suggested Vivendi and Mediaset are looking to create a European content production and delivery joint venture that would rival Sky. Mediaset Premium recently reached the milestone of 2 million subscribers, boosted above all by its exclusive coverage of European Champions League football, for which it paid out a record EUR 630 million over three seasons.
