Mediaset Evaluates Further Options As Merger Plan Stalls

   By Mauro Orru 
 

Mediaset SpA said Wednesday that it's evaluating alternative options to create a pan-European media holding company, after a recent Spanish court suspended the original plan.

The Italian broadcaster said a Madrid court accepted a legal request filed by French media group Vivendi SA to suspend Mediaset's planned merger of its Italian and Spanish operations--Mediaset Espana Comunicacion SA--to create a pan-European media holding company called MediaForEurope.

The court's decision means the plan as deliberated on June 7, 2019, cannot be completed by Oct. 2, the planned time frame foreseen by Dutch law, Mediaset said.

Mediaset confirmed it received a letter from Vivendi, "recognizing the industrial merit of the MFE project," but without concrete proposals.

"If Vivendi is seriously prepared to discuss future plans on a concrete basis in the interest of all of the shareholders, including the majority shareholders, Mediaset is ready to come to the negotiating table where this new positive approach can be examined," Mediaset said in a statement.

Vivendi has long been opposed the plan as it believes the merger "disregards basic shareholders' rights."

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2020 13:32 ET (17:32 GMT)

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