French media giant Vivendi announced that its management board has decided to increase its stake in Mediaset to 30 percent, the legal limit above which an investor is required to launch a takeover bid. The declaration of intent comes after Vivendi last week spent EUR 800 million to aggressively build up a 20 percent stake in the Italian commercial broadcaster and become Mediaset’s second largest shareholder behind the Fininvest holding company of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his family. Fininvest replied to that move by quickly raising its stake to 38.3 percent of Mediaset and filing a complaint with Italian market regulator Consob and a Milan criminal court, accusing Vivendi of market manipulation.
In its statement, Vivendi said it would increase its investment in Mediaset “by acquiring additional shares depending on market conditions within the limits of 30 percent of the share capital and voting rights.” The company added that the “strategic interest” of the industrial partnership between Vivendi and Mediaset announced back in April “supersedes the stakes of the lawsuit” brought by Mediaset after its shares plunged following the French company’s decision to back out of a deal to acquire Mediaset's Premium pay-TV unit.
Fininvest is seeking at least EUR 1.5 billion in damages plus around EUR 50 million a month due to the fall in share price starting from 25 July. Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine, who met his Mediaset counterpart Piersilvio Berlusconi last week, recently denied that Vivendi was planning a takeover. "The project (with Mediaset) is solid and convincing enough to overcome the hurdles and make it work," he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
