American media and entertainment company Discovery Communications is keen to complete a takeover of pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport ahead of the original schedule drawn up in December 2012, according to French newspaper Les Echos.
Last year, French media company TF1 announced that it had sold a 20-per-cent stake in Eurosport to Discovery, which had the option to increase its stake to 49 per cent after two years.
Under the terms of the deal, if Discovery decided to increase its stake TF1 would then have the option of selling the remaining 51 per cent to Discovery.
However, Les Echos said that Discovery and TF1 have agreed to move this deadline and are in negotiations for Discovery to acquire the remaining stake in Eurosport before the end of the year.