Canal+ Ups Stake In Viaplay To 29% As Scandi Outfit Rubberstamps Recap Program

deadline.com:

Canal+ has officially upped its stake in Viaplay to 29% after the rubberstamping of the against-the-ropes Scandi outfit’s recapitalization program.

The plan, which was first introduced to shareholders several weeks ago, was agreed on Wednesday and will see Canal+ and investment firm PPF take around a 29% stake each.

Effectively, Viaplay has been rescued from collapse but at a price for its existing owners, who have had shares diluted. Vivendi-owned Canal+ initially took a 12% stake in July, coming on the day that Viaplay Group announced it would be making at least 25% of its workforce redundant – a figure that has since risen to around 30%.

The plan involves raising 4 billion Swedish crowns ($391 million) in new equity, writing down 2 billion crowns in debt and renegotiating the terms of debt totalling 14.6 billion crowns. “This means that the recapitalisation programme for Viaplay Group proposed by the Board of Directors on 1 December 2023 can progress according to plan, as the EGM resolved in accordance with the Board of Directors’ proposals to the EGM as part of the recapitalisation programme,” said a Viaplay statement, which included further details of the recapitalization.