Canal+ confirms it is now biggest Viaplay shareholder

French pay TV operator Canal+ has confirmed that it has upped its stake in Nordic streamer Viaplay to 29.33%.

The increase follows Viaplay’s completion of its SEK 4bn (€355m) recapitalization, which includes a SEK 2 billion write down of existing debt obligations, of which SEK500 million are converted to equity.

As a result of its participation in Viaplay’s recapitalization, Canal+ Group will increase its stake in Viaplay from 12% to 29,33%, establishing itself as Viaplay’s largest shareholder.

Maxime Saada, Canal+ Group Chairman and CEO, said: “Canal+ Group welcomes the successful completion of Viaplay’s recapitalization. With now a sound capital structure, a clear plan forward and a new and committed management team, Viaplay has laid the ground for a successful turnaround. Our group’s support to Viaplay is a new testimony to our ambition to become a global player in video entertainment and extend the group’s footprint internationally, with a focus on Europe, Africa, and Asia, as also shown very recently by our offer to acquire the entire share capital of Multichoice Group and our investment in leading Asian steaming platform Viu last year.”

Viaplay’s recapitalisation also sees Czech investment outfit PPF take a 29% stake in the streamer.

The recapitalisation plan implemented by Viaplay, which saw existing shareholders lose out, came after a torrid year for the streamer, once seen as something of a poster child for how European players could achieve success in a streaming universe dominated by big US players.

However, deteriorating economic conditions and a failure to meet goals meant that the company was forced to abandon ambitious international expansion plans and go into reverse gear, withdrawing from marketings including the Baltic, Poland and the UK, and selling CEE production outfit Paprika, with CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann admitting that the route to profitability for international operaionts was “not clear or realistic”.

Canal+’s stake highlights the French pay TV operator’s return to international markets in Europe as part of its overall growth trajectory. The company followed up its acquisition of international pay TV outfit M7 Group with the announcement of a plan for the launch of its own-branded Dutch streamer late last year.

Canal+, which expects to become a separate listed company in its own right as a result of parent Vivendi’s plan to split into four separate listed entities, recently made an indicative bid to acquire overall control of South African pay TV operator MultiChoice – a bid rejected by the MultiChoice board on the grounds that it undervalued the company. However, Canal+ has also upped its stake in MultiChoice above the 35% threshold that should, under South Africa’s rules, trigger a mandatory offer.