Vivendi forms a strategic and industrial partnership with Mediaset

Vivendi forms a strategic and industrial partnership with Mediaset

 
Vivendi announced today that it has entered into an important binding strategic and industrial agreement with Mediaset, a leading player in free and pay-television in Italy and Spain.

The two companies have agreed to develop an industrial partnership at international level to, on one hand, jointly develop various initiatives for the production and distribution of ambitious audiovisual content and, on the other, to create a global over-the-top (OTT) television delivery platform.

Under the terms of the agreement, 3.5% of Vivendi’s share capital will be exchanged for 3.5% of Mediaset’s share capital and 100% of the share capital of the Mediaset Premium pay-television company.

With Mediaset Premium, Vivendi greatly expands its presence in European pay-television, increasing its global individual subscriber base to over 13 million, in an Italian market offering important growth opportunities.

The agreement with Mediaset confirms Vivendi’s intention to build strong positions in Southern Europe, a market that shares a similar Latin culture and roots. Mediaset’s significant presence in Italy and Spain, through general entertainment and thematic channels (free and pay), represents an important stepping stone toward achieving this goal.

It also represents a major step forward for Vivendi in its ambition to become a large international media and content group with a European essence. Through its subsidiary Studiocanal Vivendi is already the leading European film producer and, as announced this week, it has significantly strengthened its presence in television production by making equity investments in several independent production companies in Spain and the United Kingdom. The Group also launched Studio+, which produces exclusive premium series created specifically for mobile devices available through a dedicated app.

The closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the coming months, is subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.

 >>> Download the Italian version of the press release

About Vivendi

Vivendi is an integrated media and content group. The company operates businesses throughout the media value chain, from talent discovery to the creation, production and distribution of content. The main subsidiaries of Vivendi comprise Canal+ Group and Universal Music Group. Canal+ is the leading pay-TV operator in France, and also serves markets in Africa, Poland and Vietnam. Canal+ operations include Studiocanal, a leading European player in production, sales and distribution of film and TV series. Universal Music Group is the world leader in recorded music, music publishing and merchandising, with more than 50 labels covering all genres. A separate division, Vivendi Village, brings together Vivendi Ticketing (ticketing in the UK, the U.S and France), MyBestPro (experts counseling), Watchever (subscription video-on-demand), Radionomy (digital radio), the Paris-based concert venue L’Olympia, the future CanalOlympia venues in Africa and the Theatre de l‘Oeuvre in Paris. With 3.5 billion videos viewed each month, Dailymotion is one of the biggest video content aggregation and distribution platforms in the world. www.vivendi.com, www.cultureswithvivendi.com

Important Disclaimers

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, business, strategy, plans and outlook of Vivendi, including the impact of certain transactions. Although Vivendi believes that such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, including but not limited to the risks related to antitrust and other regulatory approvals as well as any other approvals which may be required in connection with certain transactions and the risks described in the documents Vivendi filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (French securities regulator), which are also available in English on Vivendi’s website (www.vivendi.com). Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers at www.amf-france.org, or directly from Vivendi. Accordingly, we caution readers against relying on such forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Vivendi disclaims any intention or obligation to provide, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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