Spain’s competition regulator, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y La Competencia (CNMC), has given the green light to telecommunications company Telefónica’s takeover of Spanish pay-television operator Canal Plus.
The announcement comes after Telefónica in July secured a 100-per-cent shareholding in Canal Plus through its acquisition of Mediaset Espana’s 22-per-cent stake for a price of €295m ($312.1m). Telefónica had already agreed a deal to acquire a 56-per-cent stake in Canal Plus from media company Prisa for €750m, raising its interest to 78 per cent.
However, the deal was subject to approval from the CNMC amid reports that it was likely to impose strict conditions on the transaction owing to concerns over the level of control Telefónica would gain in the Spanish pay-television market. The European Commission had also spoken of its worries over the proposed deal granting Telefónica control of 84 per cent of the market.
Full terms of the final agreement have yet to be disclosed, but Spanish newspaper Vozpopuli said the CNMC has imposed on Telefónica a shorter exclusivity time period over its clients, meaning it will only be able to make exclusive rights deals for up to three years. Telefónica will also be required to share 50 per cent of its premium content with other pay-television operators.
Telefónica chief executive José María Álvarez Pallete in February said the telco would bid for the collective rights to the Spanish Liga when the new collective-rights model for the top division of domestic football is introduced.