Mediaset, Vivendi Fail to Reach Agreement in Conciliation Talks

   By Giulia Petroni 
 

Mediaset SpA (MS.MI) said Friday that it failed to reach an agreement with its shareholder Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) to end a long-running dispute.

"Mediaset has announced that, despite strenuous efforts, attempts at conciliation promoted by the Court of Milan [...] have failed," the Italian broadcaster said.

The court in Milan reserved the right to fix a subsequent hearing, the company said.

Last week, a Milan judge granted Mediaset and Vivendi additional time to settle their differences after a number of previous attempts failed.

The two sides have been involved in a series of disputes for years, the most recent over Mediaset's aim to create a new Dutch holding company, "Media for Europe," to pursue pan-European ties and stave off competition in the streaming-services market.

In October, Vivendi requested the Court of Milan issue a preliminary suspension of Mediaset's plan, arguing the strategy "disregards basic shareholders' rights" and would only benefit Mediaset's largest shareholder Fininvest.

As previously announced, Mediaset has called for an extraordinary shareholders meeting for Jan. 10 to discuss the matter.

Write to Giulia Petroni at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 29, 2019 11:54 ET (16:54 GMT)

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