By Sam Schechner and Marion Issard
PARIS-- France's TV regulator approved Tuesday the purchase of
two TV channels belonging to the Bollore (BOL.FR) conglomerate by
French pay-TV giant Canal Plus, clearing the way for a deal that
will make Bollore one of the biggest individual shareholders of
Canal Plus parent Vivendi S.A. (VIV.FR).
"We authorize Canal Plus to buy Direct 8 and Direct Star, with
conditions," a spokesman for the French regulator, known as CSA,
said via telephone. An announcement spelling out conditions is
expected later Tuesday.
The approval clears the second hurdle for the two free-to-air TV
channels to become part of Canal Plus, in a deal first announced
last fall. France's competition authority also approved that deal
over the summer, along with conditions aimed at limiting Canal
Plus's power over the French TV marketplace.
As part of the purchase, Bollore, run by industrialist Vincent
Bollore, will be paid in Vivendi stock, bringing it up to roughly
5% of the company's outstanding shares. Vivendi's chairman
Jean-Rene Fourtou has said that it intends to invite Mr. Bollore to
join Vivendi's board, and a person familiar with the matter said in
June that Mr. Bollore intends to accept.
The two men have been friends since the 1980s, when they were
both part of an exclusive club of French industrial leaders.
For Canal Plus, the purchase pushes the company into the
increasingly competitive free-TV marketplace in France. Competitors
have seen the advertising market, already weak because of the
sputtering economy, split between a growing number of channels in
recent years, with another set of digital terrestrial channels set
to launch soon.
-Write to Same Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com
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