Canal+ Group, ITI Group and TVN Group have finalised their strategic partnership in Poland, thereby combining Cyfra+ and n to create a DTH platform with at expected 2.5 million post-paid subscribers by the end of this year.
Canal+ Group will hold a 51% stake in the newly created pay-TV company, with TVN Group and UP owning 32% and 17% respectively. The newly combined DTH platform will be managed jointly by Markus Tellenbach (CEO) and Beata Monka (deputy CEO) and operate in a sector in which Polsat, the market leader, has around 3.5 million subscribers.
The newly created pay-TV company will cooperate with TVN in content development and production, with the partnership being strengthened by Canal+ becoming a key shareholder in TVN alongside ITI Group.
Synergies in the combination are likely to exceed PLN250 million (€55.26 million) in three years, and by the end 2015 the newly created pay-TV platform should have over 3 million subscribers and an EBITDA of over PLN500 million.
The closing of the transaction, which still has to be approved by the regulatory authorities, is expected in H2 2012.
Significantly, among the terms and conditions of the partnership is one that gives Canal+ Group the option of buying TVN’s 32% stake in the newly created pay-TV platform three or four years after closing.
