Mediaset and Telecom Italia may merge
Telecom Italia and Mediaset could pursue a merger following the failure of an attempted tie-up between TI and the French media group Vivendi, the Italian language daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
The unsourced report said that Vivendi taking a stake in Mediaset Premium, the pay TV operations of the listed Italian media group could open the way for a possible wider merger between TI and Mediaset.
The report noted that there has been talk of a merger between TI and Mediset for 10 years. The report said that there is now an industrial logic because of the convergence of content with communication devices such as smart phones. The report added that Mediaset might also be keen to merge because the advertising and publishing markets are difficult.
The report added that any merger between the two companies would face formidable anti-trust and regulatory hurdles.
Mediaset has a market cap of EUR 3.794bn and TI EUR 16.61bn.
Source Il Sole 24 Ore