Poland’s competition regulator, UOKIK, has approved a merger between pay-television operators Cyfra Plus and N.
Media company Vivendi, Cyfra Plus’s parent company, will hold a 51-per-cent stake in the merged platform, with TVN Group, owner of N, holding a 32-per-cent stake. The remaining 17 per cent will be owned by media company Liberty Global.
The merged platform will have 2.5 million subscribers.
Under the deal, Vivendi will also acquire a 40-per-cent stake in N-Vision, the media company that controls 51 per cent of TVN Group.
The merger is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Cyfra Plus has exclusive live rights for three matches per week from the Polish Ekstraklasa, the top division of football in the country, as well as rights for another five games per week from the competition on a non-exclusive basis. Both deals run for three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14.