Canal Plus in Advanced Talks to Acquire Orange’s Film, Television, Pay-TV Divisions (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comElsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCanal Plus Group is in advanced discussions to acquire the film, television, and pay-TV divisions of Orange, the leading French telco group.Canal Plus Group, whose parent company is Vivendi, already owns 33.3% of OCS, the pay-TV arm of Orange, and has been distributing the service on its platform as part of its cable bundle since 2011.
Canal Plus and Orange could enter into exclusive negotiations as early as September and would then be subjected to anti-trust approval, according to a pair of senior industry sources.
Closing that pact could take another year.The deal currently being discussed would also include the acquisition of Orange Studio, the content division in charge of co-producing, selling abroad and distributing select films in France.
Recent movies released locally by Orange Studio include Florian Zeller’s “The Father.” The banner also has French rights to Zeller’s follow up “The Son.” OCS, meanwhile, has been investing big bucks in premium content to recruit subscribers since launching in 2008, notably with its multi-year deal with HBO, but the banner has struggled to become financially viable.
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