By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) -Vivendi’s Canal Plus TV arm is in exclusive talks to buy the film and pay TV operations of Orange in a deal that would allow it to add nearly 3 million subscribers and challenge Netflix in France, a source told Reuters on Friday.
Informal talks between Vivendi’s Canal Plus, which already owns a third of the OCS film and pay TV business, and Orange – France’s biggest telecoms group – have been going for months.
An OCS-Canal Plus tie-up would have to be approved by the French competition authority, said the source with direct knowledge of the talks.
OCS is France’s second-biggest pay-TV service after Canal Plus. It’s known for being the sole distributor of HBO series in France, including blockbuster “Game of Thrones”.
Buying OCS would allow Canal Plus to bulk up and increase its market share in video streaming to challenge U.S. giant Netflix.
Orange and Canal Plus declined comment on the talks, which were first reported by trade publication Variety.
In September, French TV companies TF1 and M6 abandoned a merger plan that had been aimed at forming a domestic TV giant able to challenge U.S. streaming services.
(Additional reporting by Piotr Lipinski;Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Mark Potter)
