Canal Plus Group in talks to acquire TVN

Canal Plus Group and Polish commercial broadcaster TVN have revealed that they are in exclusive negotiations to establish a strategic partnership in Poland.

Wojciech Kostrzewa, CEO of ITI Holdings, TVN’s parent company, told Bloomberg that the two sides were working to reach an agreement by the end of this year. ITI Holdings is seeking to sell a stake in TVN to Canal Plus, which competes with it in the pay TV business. ITI Holdings may sell its entire 56% stake in the broadcaster, which owns the third-placed ‘n’ pay TV platform as well as leading ISP Onet.pl. Canal Plus operates the Cyfra Plus pay TV platform, Poland’s second largest.

Options for ITI Holdings are believed to include a full merger or a split of TVN’s operations.