Rupert Murdoch may be interested in acquiring Vivendi Universal’s pay-TV business, Telepiù, according to a report in today’s Financial Times.
The report comes just weeks after Telepiù abandoned its planned merger with Italian pay-TV platform Stream, which is 50% owned by Murdoch’s News Corp (see
Vivendi’s Telepi). At the time Telepiù cited the restrictions placed on the deal by the Italian anti-trust regulator as the reasons for its exit from the agreement. However, it is widely thought that Vivendi had been looking to withdraw from the deal for some time.
Analysts at ABN Amro say that a merger of the two platforms – or the closure of one of them – is inevitable if they are ever to reach profitability. Vivendi is thought to be losing up to €1 million per day at Telepiù.
The remaining 50% of Stream is owned by Telecom Italia. Rupert Murdoch is in talks with Telecom Italia regarding a possible acquisition of Telepiù, according to the FT report. Vivendi, for its part, may discuss the possibility of selling Telepiù as it is currently largely responsible for the poor financial performance of the company’s Canal+ division.
