Disclaimer :

The Competition DG makes the information provided by the notifying parties in section 1.2 of Form CO available to the public in order to increase transparency. This information has been prepared by the notifying parties under their sole responsibility, and its content in no way prejudges the view the Commission may take of the planned operation. Nor can the Commission be held responsible for any incorrect or misleading information contained therein.

SECTION 1.2

Description of the concentration

The notified concentration consists of the acquisition of sole control in the sense of Article 3(1)(b) of the EU Merger Regulation by Groupe Canal + SA (“Canal +”), an indirectly solely controlled subsidiary of the Bolloré Group, headquartered in France, of M7 Group SA (“M7”).

Canal +, headquartered in France, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vivendi SA, headquartered in France. Canal + offers pay-TV subscriptions in a number of countries worldwide, including France and Poland within the EEA, produces and distributes audio-visual content, broadcasts over 60 channels worldwide, some of which are broadcast within the EEA in France, Belgium and Poland, and is active in selling online and offline advertising windows for its channels and digital pay-TV offers. Through its subsidiary Thema, Canal + is active as the wholesaler of TV channels across the EEA and worldwide. Canal + also provides fixed internet and telephone access to residential customers in the French overseas territories and in Poland.

M7, headquartered in Luxembourg is a pay-TV retailer and has eleven pay-TV brands in eight EU Member States, namely in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia. M7 is also active as a broadcaster of a TV channel in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.

M7 is also active as a wholesaler of TV channels in Germany. In addition, M7 resells some of the satellite transponder capacity that it purchases to TV broadcasters, the majority of which are suppliers of TV channels to M7. In Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands, M7 also offers telephony and internet services alongside its retail pay-TV offering.

The Parties submit that the notified concentration will not give rise to any horizontally affected markets or anticompetitive vertical overlaps and therefore the concentration will not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the internal market.

Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË

Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.