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Section 1 - Significant events
Financial Report
| Statutory Auditors’ Report on the Consolidated Financial Statements | Consolidated
Financial Statements | Statutory Auditors’ Report on the Financial Statements | Statutory Financial Statements
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Launch of the A+ channel
On October 24, the A+ channel officially launched in Africa and will be
broadcast in more than 20 countries in West and Central Africa through
Canalsat. A+ is positioning itself as “the great African channel”, seeking
to bring together a wide audience and offering rich, varied and high
quality programming.
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TNT license in Congo
On December 12, 2014, Canal+ signed an operating agreement in relation
to cable television services on digital terrestrial television in the Republic
of Congo, where the company already offers television services via
satellite.
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TVN interest in Poland
On October 16, 2014, Canal+ Group and ITI Group announced that they
were jointly considering strategic options in relation to their 51% interest
in TVN (FTA broadcaster in Poland).
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Success at the box office for
Non-Stop
and
Paddington
In March 2014,
Non-Stop
, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring
Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, arrived in first place at the US
weekend box office with $56 million in revenue after its first operating
weekend. This success was largely confirmed wherever the film was
subsequently released, including in France, Germany and China where
it also dominated its competitors during its release. To date, the film has
generated $236 million in worldwide revenue.
Since the end of November 2014,
Paddington
, produced by David Heyman
(the Harry Potter saga, Gravity..) and featuring Hugh Bonneville and
Nicole Kidman has captivated audiences around the world.
Paddington
is the biggest success for a Studiocanal film in the United Kingdom,
where it earned £34 million in revenue in eight weeks. In France, it
sold 2.8 million tickets and it is off to a great start in the United States
where it is distributed by the Weinstein Company. As of February 4, 2015,
Paddington
had exceeded $200 million in worldwide revenues, a record
for a family film produced by an independent studio.
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TV Series Development
In 2014, Studiocanal produced 57 hours of series television through
its subsidiaries Red Production Company and Tandem. Red produced
season 4 of
Scott and Bailey
, and the new series
Happy Valley
,
Prey
and
The Driver
all of which broke audience and satisfaction records in the
United Kingdom when broadcast. Tandem produced season 2 of
Crossing
Lines
, the crime series with an international cast and the
Spotless
series,
an original Canal+ creation.
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New partnerships entered into by Studiocanal
In May 2014, Canal+ and Studiocanal joined forces with writers and
creators Søren Sveistrup and Adam Price and producer and CEO Meta
Louise Foldager to create the production company SAM Productions
ApS. SAM will work with the strongest Scandinavian creative talents to
produce TV-series for the international market. Studiocanal joined SAM
as a partner and will serve as the company’s distributor.
In September 2014, Studiocanal and The Picture Company – Andrew
Rona and Alex Heineman’s new production company – announced they
had entered into a development and production agreement. The first
collaboration is the development of the adaptation of Tom Wood’s
Victor
the Assassin
book franchise to be directed by Pierre Morel. In the past,
the two producers, while at Silver Pictures, produced several hit action
films for Studiocanal including
Without Identity
and
Non-Stop
, as well
as the soon-to-be released
The Gunman
, also directed by Pierre More.
In September 2014, Grand Electric, the new production company created
by Eric Newman, and Studiocanal entered into an agreement for the
acquisition, development and production of feature films for the European
and American markets. Under this agreement, Studiocanal will be both
a creative and financial partner, will handle international sales and will
distribute the new Grand Electric films in its territories.
On September 4, 2014, Studiocanal and Svensk Filmindustri entered
into a strategic partnership to distribute all Studiocanal films across
the Nordic market (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) and co-
produce films and TV-series. This strategic partnership capitalizes upon
Nordic titles and talents and targets the international market. Svensk
Filmindustri will be responsible for the Nordic market and Studiocanal
will be responsible for international distribution.
On October 8, 2014, Studiocanal extended its multi-year SVOD agreement
with Amazon in the United Kingdom and Germany. Amazon will have the
exclusive first pay-TV rights to all Studiocanal theatrical titles in both
territories, as well as hundreds of library titles added to its service.
1.1.6.
Universal Music Group (UMG)
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Acquisition of Eagle Rock Entertainment Group Limited
On April 8, 2014, UMG acquired the entire issued share capital of Eagle
Rock Entertainment Group Limited, an independent producer and distributor
of music films and programming for DVD, television and digital media.
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Sale of interest in Beats
On August 1, 2014, UMG sold its interest in Beats to Apple for a net
amount of €250 million (of which €221 million was received during the
period). The net gain on sale, recorded as other income in the Statement
of Earnings, amounted to €179 million.
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Sale of Parlophone Label Group
On July 1, 2013, Vivendi sold Parlophone Label Group to Warner Music
Group for a consideration of €591 million. The arbitration process in
respect of contractual restatements to Parlophone Label Group’s sale
price completed at the end of November 2014 and UMG was awarded
a further €30 million. As a result, this restatement took the total amount
received from Warner Music Group in respect of this sale to €621 million.
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New agreements entered into with Havas
Havas and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced the following
agreements:
p
p
on September 29, 2014: digital brand integrations in select UMG
music videos by using Mirriad’s Academy Award-winning video
technology; and
p
p
on January 5, 2015: formation of Global Music Data Alliance (GMDA)
related to consumer’s data.
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Annual Report 2014