Mediaset owner Fininvest denies knowledge about offer of Vivendi stake to end dispute (translated)
Fininvest, the holding of the Berlusconi family that controls Mediaset [BIT:MS] has denied any knowledge of an offer from Vivendi [EPA:VIV] to end a dispute between Mediaset and Vivendi, Italian-language daily Il Messaggero reported. The report cited a Fininvest spokesperson who was responding to newswire claims that Fininvest had been offered a stake in Vivendi in order to end a dispute between the two companies over Mediaset.
According to a report in Italian language daly Il Sole 24 Ore that cited newswires, Vivendi is offering to make Fininvest a principal shareholder in the French media group in exchange for handing over control of Mediaset to Vivendi.
The report noted that Vivendi has built up a stake of just under 30% in Mediaset following legal action taken by the Italian media group and Fininvest after the French media group decided to pull out of a deal to acquire Mediaset Premium, Mediaset's pay TV arm.
Mediaset has a market cap of EUR 5.15bn.
Il Messaggero article sourced from print copy: page 17
Il Sole article sourced from print copy: page 28