• Mediaset, Court condemns Vivendi to pay 1.7 million on a Premium contract

  • Mediaset, the European court of justice agrees with Vivendi

  • Vivendi, Mediaset-Fininvest ask for 3 billion in damages

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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea

03 May 2021 Vivendi, Fininvest and Mediaset have announced that they have reached a global agreement to put an end to their disputes by mutually renouncing all pending lawsuits and complaints. It was learned from a joint note that came at the end of a tight negotiation. For days, rumors have been chasing about a possible peace that would put an end to the disputes that began with the failure of the French media company to purchase Premium (the pay-TV content platform). The lawyers also worked over the weekend to reach an overall agreement between the parties after more than five years of no holds barred legal battles. 



Vivendi will sell stake in the hands of Simon Fiduciaria in 5 years

As part of the 'global' agreements ratified in the evening by the signing of the agreement between Mediaset and Vivendi, the latter undertook to sell on the market the entire 19.19% stake in Mediaset held by Simon Fiduciaria in a period of five years from the finalization of the agreement (22 July next). This is explained by the note with which the companies announce the agreement. "Fininvest will have the right to purchase any unsold shares in each 12-month period, at the established annual price".



Vivendi will remain shareholder with 4.61% stake

Vivendi will not sell all the shares held in the capital of Mediaset. Of the stake held directly by the French group, approximately 9%, Fininvest will purchase 5% at closing at the price of € 2.70 per share, after the ex-dividend. Vivendi will remain a Mediaset shareholder with the remaining 4.61% stake "and will be free to maintain or sell this stake at any time and at any price", explains the note of the agreement between the groups. 



The vote in the assembly

Mediaset and Vivendi in the agreement reached also establish what they will have to vote in the assembly: "Vivendi will favor the international development of Mediaset, by voting in favor of the abolition of the increased voting mechanism and the transfer of Mediaset's registered office to the Netherlands". At the meeting of Mediaset, scheduled for June 23, 2021, "Fininvest will propose the distribution of an extraordinary dividend of € 0.30 per share to all shareholders for payment on July 21, 2021. Vivendi and Fininvest are obliged to vote in in favor of this resolution ".



Stipulation of good neighborly agreements on free-to-air and standstill television

As content operators and media companies, the two companies have also "entered into good neighborly agreements in free-to-air and standstill television lasting five years". Dailymotion, a subsidiary of Vivendi, has agreed to pay 26.3 million euros to put an end to the copyright dispute with Rti and Medusa, a company of the Mediaset group.