American media and entertainment company Discovery Communications plans to pay “several hundred million dollars” for a minority stake in international sports broadcaster Eurosport, according to the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Discovery said yesterday that it had entered exclusive negotiations to establish a ‘strategic alliance’ with Eurosport’s parent company, the French media company TF1 Group.
Discovery said that the alliance would be formed with the aim of “driving the growth of Eurosport… enhancing both companies’ pay-television offerings… and developing a mutually beneficial content production relationship.”
The newspaper said that the deal would help Discovery to enter new overseas markets by bundling its channels with Eurosport’s channels on pay-television platforms.
The report added that Discovery and TF1 may also jointly develop or share content under the partnership, but that Discovery has no plans to produce its own sports content.