PARIS (Reuters) – The Canal+ group, a subsidiary of Vivendi, has entered into exclusive negotiations for the takeover of OCS, a television subsidiary of Orange, and the cinema studio of the incumbent operator, confirmed a source familiar with the situation. file, confirming information from Variety and Les Echos.
Informal discussions between Canal+, which already owns a third of OCS’ cinema and pay-TV activities, and Orange have been going on for months.
A merger between OCS and Canal+ would need to be approved by the French competition authority, the source familiar with the discussions said.
OCS, France’s second-largest pay-TV service after Canal+, is known for distributing unreleased HBO series in France, including the blockbuster “Game of Thrones.”
The acquisition of OCS would allow Canal+ to strengthen itself and increase its market share in the field of video streaming in order to challenge the American giant Netflix.
Orange and Canal+ declined to comment on the negotiations.
In September, television channels TF1 and M6 abandoned a merger plan that aimed to form a national television giant capable of challenging American streaming services.
(Report Silvia Aloisi, written by Myriam Rivet and Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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