Vivendi and Mediaset have signed an agreement to end a long-running war that will see French journalists gradually sell their share of 29% on Italian radio in the next five years.
Agreement announced Monday night has resolved a dispute that has led to Vincent Bolloré, a French billionaire who manages Vivendi and its businesses including Canal Plus and Universal Music, against the family of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who runs the Mediaset.
“Vivendi, Fininvest [the Berlusconi family holding company] and Mediaset is ready to announce that it has reached an international agreement to resolve their differences by eliminating their grievances and grievances, “the companies said in a joint statement.
The war began in 2016 with Vivendi agreed to buy Mediaset payroll business € 800m. The two groups also have to take small trees to each other’s capital thinking that they are setting the stage for construction pan-Europe media player to take on new players like Netflix.
But unity soon he fell amid the controversy over the calculation of the cost of paid businesses on TV, Vivendi calls on the Mediaset to boost economic outcomes. This prompted Vivendi to take part in the Mediaset a few months later, a move that the Italian group saw as hostile.
A legal dispute arose when Mediaset challenged Vivendi in court. Italian authorities also looked into the case because Vivendi owned 24% of Telecom Italia at the time, which could violate anti-press laws.
The two groups have tried several times in recent years to resolve their differences just to see the negotiations fail. The trial came after a court in Milan last month rejected Mediaset’s request for a refund from the Mediaset and ordered Vivendi to pay only € 1.7m.
Under the new agreement, Vivendi promised to sell 19.2% of Mediaset in installments over five years at other prices – from € 2.75 in the first year to € 3.10 in the fifth. It could lose the entire section “at any time” if the price of Mediaset reaches € 3.20. Shares closed at € 2.69 on Monday.
The Fininvest-owned company has agreed to buy 5% of Mediaset shares at a price of € 2.70 per share. At the end of the process, Vivendi holds the remaining 4.61% stock that can sell at any time or price.
Vivendi has just finished selling its Mediaset shares for less than € 1.26bn which he paid in 2016 as it is now around € 920m. In its 2020 annual report, it revealed an average price of € 3.70 per share.
Vivendi has also said he has stopped opposing the Mediaset idea to change its official headquarters in the Netherlands, an idea that seeks to help them develop other countries. Mediaset has said it wants to partner with other European advertisers to better compete with the advertising industry.
Both Vivendi and Mediaset now on the go to buy the second largest French producer of the M6, which is being sold by parent company RTL Group.
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