Deals
Vivendi to Lift Stake in Mediaset in Challenge to Berlusconi
- French media company seeks up to 30% in battle for broadcaster
- Berlusconi calls up regulators, prosecutors for defense
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Vivendi SA plans to buy additional shares in Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset SpA, intensifying a battle for control of the broadcaster founded by the former Italian prime minister. Mediaset stock soared.
Vivendi’s management, with supervisory board backing, decided on Monday to lift its Mediaset stake within the threshold of 30 percent of voting rights, above which a mandatory tender offer would be triggered, and will buy shares “depending on market conditions,” the French company said in a statement.