Telefónica tables deal for Mediaset’s Canal Plus stake

Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica has submitted a bid to acquire media company Mediaset’s 22-per-cent stake in Spanish pay-television operator Canal Plus, according to the Economia Digital news website.

Telefónica has tabled a bid of €295m ($401m) for the stake in Canal Plus, which changed its name from Digital Plus in 2011 and is a major sports broadcaster in the country.

In a filing to Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, the Spanish securities market watchdog, Telefónica president César Alierta said that Mediaset would receive a further €10m if the telco’s deal to acquire a 56-per-cent stake in Canal Plus from media company Prisa for €750m receives regulatory approval.

The Prisa deal would increase Telefónica’s stake in Canal Plus to 78 per cent, and the deal with Mediaset would give the telco a 100-per-cent shareholding.

Telefónica is attempting to bolster its pay-television offering to offset a decline in its domestic telecommunications business.