Orange interested in a buy-out of Canal +, if the channel was for sale
Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orange, believes that many reasons lead to an alliance between Orange and Canal +.
Orange would be interested to buy back Canal +, if the encrypted channel was for sale. This was said Thursday Stéphane Richard, CEO of telecom operator, on the sidelines of a news conference in Morocco, dedicated to its local subsidiary Meditel, renamed Orange . "If Canal + were to sell, it is certain that Orange would be interested," he said, in response to a question on the assumptions of rapprochement between the two groups that have been stirring the market for a few months.
"There are many reasons for an alliance between Orange and Canal + whose form and importance remain to be defined," Stéphane Richard said. Vincent Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi, the parent company of Canal +, does not however intend to sell its encrypted channel, which it has reviewed in recent months, the entire economic model.
Natural Alliance
Orange and Canal + are trading partners and are both present in Africa and Poland. Canal + is in the contents, Orange distributes content from there to speak of further alliance, there is one step ... While Canal + must face the competition increasingly fierce SFR in France, in sports televised rights and soon, the series and the cinema.
Canal + and Orange have also strengthened their ties in Africa. The two groups responded for the first time together to a tender for the distribution of digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels in Côte d'Ivoire, announced Bruno Mettling, boss Africa and Middle East of Orange , Also present in Morocco. He said that this initiative with Canal + should "appeal to others".
What about Vivendi?
At the end of August, Challenges had spoken of a secret agreement between Vivendi, the parent company of Canal + and Orange, to take up 20% of the encrypted channel and buy Telecom Italia, Of which Vivendi owns 24.7%. But Orange had denied any agreement with Vivendi.
In recent months, Stéphane Richard had demonstrated his interest in Telecom Italia. To the point that many imagine today that Vivendi could become shareholder of Orange, bringing it, on the other hand, Telecom Italia. However, this subject does not appear to be current. "Vincent Bolloré (Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi, Editor's note) has never told me his intentions," Stéphane Richard said.