The TV4 Group and Telenor Group today announced that they have entered a co-ownership agreement for C More Entertainment, which runs its premium TV operations under the Canal+ brand. Telenor will acquire 35 per cent of C More Entertainment through a share purchase and a directed new share issue of the company's shares. Telenor has paid a cash consideration of SEK 787 million. In addition, certain sports rights owned by Telenor, such as SAS Ligaen and FIFA World Cup 2010 in Denmark, have been sublicensed to C More Entertainment. The Nordic co-ownership provides Canal+ with long term access to important content for its TV subscribers. Canal+ customers will be offered an increased selection of top quality sports, films and series.
The TV4 Group and Telenor have enjoyed a close collaboration since TV4 Group's acquisition of C More Entertainment. The deal presented today will enhance this collaboration. The co-ownership agreement opens the door for new media and telecom ventures and business opportunities, with each party offering both knowledge and creativity.
"We are very pleased to present this deal. Telenor and TV4 Group complement each other well and, together, we are a perfect match to develop Canal+ further" said Erik Nord, CEO of Telenor Media and Content Services.
For Canal+ subscribers, positive changes will be felt immediately through the launch of several exciting projects. For example, Canal+ will launch several new premium channels in the Nordic region. As announced yesterday, Canal+ will also expand its rights portfolio with attractive new sports rights such as the whole Spanish La Liga with Messi and Zlatan, Italian Serie A with Riise and Ronaldinho, the American major soccer league MSL with Beckham, world-class tennis and the NBA professional basketball league. Canal+ will further include the premier division of the Swedish football league and premier league ice hockey. In addition, Canal+ has long term exclusive agreements with 6 out of 8 Hollywood studios. Canal+ subscribers can therefore continue to expect the best premium sports, film and series content. The launch of new TV channels in Norway and Denmark is also planned.
"Canal+ has developed very well since we acquired the company in 2008, and reported its best ever results last year. We are now creating even better opportunities for Canal+ to maintain its position as the Nordic region's leading TV channel in the premium segment, and are also enlarging our offer" stated Jan Scherman, CEO of the TV4 Group.
The Canal+ operational structure remains unchanged and the company's business model will remain based on an operator-independent strategy. Canal+ will also maintain its current objective of offering premium services to existing and new subscribers in the Nordic region. The intensification of the close, long-standing Canal+ collaboration between the TV4 Group and the Telenor Group therefore means that all three companies will continue to run their operations with the same market orientation towards other partners as previously. The co-ownership agreement will not alter the control structure of C More Entertainment. TV4 Group will remain as the company's majority owner.
In conjunction with the announcement of the co-ownership agreement, a press conference will be held on Tuesday, 11 May 2010 at 10:00 AM Norwegian time/CET, at Telenor Expo Visitors' Centre at the Telenor Headquarters in Fornebu, outside Oslo. Presentations will be given by Jan Scherman, CEO of TV4 Group, Jonas Eriksson, CEO of C More Entertainment, Erik Nord, CEO of Telenor Media and Content Services, and Christian Albech, CEO of Telenor Broadcast Holding.
