TF1, France Télévisions and M6 groups have submitted their planned joint-venture streaming SVOD platform Salto to the Competition Authority.
“The proposed transaction consists of the creation of a full-function joint venture company called Salto. This company will be jointly controlled by three players in the French audiovisual sector, FTV, M6 and TF1”, according to the summary provided by the parties and posted on the Authority’s website.
Third parties concerned by this concentration are invited to submit their comments before 12 July. If the transaction does not raise particular competition concerns or if the commitments submitted by the parties address the concerns identified, the transaction may be authorised with or without commitments following a rapid review (referred to as Phase 1), in accordance with the procedure detailed on the site of the proceedings.
The decision is then rendered within 25 working days from the date of receipt of the notification, i.e. until Friday, July 19. If it considers that a detailed examination is necessary, it will have an additional period of time (up to 65 working days) to take a decision.
However, the Competition Authority, which will be called upon to rule on this project in March, has already begun to examine the case within the framework of a so-called “pre-notification” period.
In March the European Commission has handed the Salto case back to France.
“In agreement with the companies concerned, the European Commission considered that the French authority was best placed to examine this merger, in particular with regard to its impact on the national market and the authority’s experience in this sector,” the European Commission said at the time in a statement.
The Salto project, which consists in creating a common SVOD service between France Télévisions, TF1 and M6, was set up to fight Netflix. The platform was announced in June 2018, but has so far not materialised due to regulatory questions.
