Canal+ buys majority stake in SPI International
Canal+ is set to acquire a 70% majority stake in SPI International, a global media company operating 42 TV channels across six continents. The valuation and other deal terms were not disclosed.
Owned by Vivendi, pay TV organisation Canal+ Group boasts 22 million subscribers across 40 countries in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. As it looks to respond to disruption from non-traditional players like Amazon and Netflix, the company has ramped up its international footprint in recent years.
In Europe, the group is well positioned in mainland France and Poland where it acquired the M7 Group platform in 2019. It’s also backed by its subsidiary Studiocanal, which is involved in film and TV production, distribution and sales, as well as Kino Swiat in Poland. Now, it has moved to purchase a majority stake in SPI International to further bolster its expansion efforts.
Under the terms of the deal, SPI International will keep its current management team and operational structure in place. This will see SPI’s founders Loni Farhi and Berk Uziyel continue to manage and develop the company’s business. Canal+ will meanwhile look to build synergies with SPI in international markets. The deal is subject to anti-trust approval.
According to statements from the two groups, the alliance will strengthen the existing entertainment products of both companies, and expand the distribution of SPI’s content to far larger audiences. Maxime Saada, CEO of Canal Plus Group, said “the acquisition of SPI International is part of the strategy we have been implementing for several years.”
The deal was advised upon by Eight International, which provided financial and tax due diligence of SPI International for Canal+. The financial work was led by Eric Demuyt, Partner at Eight Advisory, Francois Gallizia, Director at Eight Advisory and Piotr Dalak, Associate Partner at JP Weber. Tax due diligence was meanwhile led by Guillaume Rembry, Partner at Eight Advisory Avocats, Hubert Christophe, Attorney at Law at Eight Advisory Avocats and Tomasz Bartoszek, Associate Partner at JP Weber.