Discovery eyes early Eurosport buy-out

Discovery Communications has begun talks about acquiring a majority stake in sportscaster Eurosport from French broadcaster TF1.

The US-based factual giant paid €170m (US$222m) for a stake in TF1 channels including TV Breizh, Histoire, Ushuaïa TV and Stylia last December.

That deal included 20% of Eurosport with an option for Discovery to raise its stake to a controlling 51% in 2014, at which point TF1 can choose to transfer its remaining 49% interest to the US firm.

However, a statement from both broadcasters today stated that discussions over a potential early Discovery purchase of a majority stake are now underway.

TF1 intends to retain its 80% interest in Eurosport France until at least the end of 2014 but Discovery is keen to exercise its buy-out option early over the European arm of the channel.

In September, Discovery announced it was taking Eurosport content to the US for the first time as part of a branded content block on its male-skewing channel Velocity.