Telefónica, Canal+ buy-out greenlit

Spanish competition regulators have approved Telefónica’s purchase of pay TV platform Canal+.

The deal comes almost a year after the operator agreed to buy the 56% stake from Prisa for €750m (US$815m). Telefónica and Italian firm Mediaset previously owned 22% of the business each, but Telefónica took over Mediaset’s stake when it bought an 11.1% stake in the company last July.

Spain’s antitrust watchdog CNMC has now attached conditions to the purchase of the Prisa stake that includes Telefónica offering access to its high-speed internet network to competitors so they can provide content to subscribers.

Telefónica will be required to share 50% of its premium content with other pay TV operators, despite Vodafone and Orange requesting the figure to be 75%.

Canal+ was formed in Spain 2003 from the merger between the country’s two rival DTH platforms, Canal Sátelite Digital and Vía Digital.