Mediaset Steps Up Lobbying for European Broadcast Alliance

(Bloomberg) -- Mediaset SpA is ramping up efforts to convince European broadcasters to join a planned data sharing and advertising alliance that could help them meet the growing challenge from Netflix Inc.

The holding company of Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi already bought into Germany's ProSiebenSat1. Media SE and plans to combine its Italian and Spanish units in a new Dutch holding company to make it easier to forge European tie-ups.

The plan is potentially threatened by Mediaset's second-biggest shareholder, French media company Vivendi SA, which is in a simmering conflict with the Berlusconis over their plan to consolidate control over the Italian company.

Vivendi might try to block the planned Dutch holding company but Mediaset is pressing ahead with the project, pushing for talks on deeper cooperation with ProSieben and calling publicly for broadcasters in France and Britain to sign up.

“Our goal is to bring into our European project above all ProsiebenSat1 and TF1, but there are also other possibilities,” Chief Executive Officer Pier Silvio Berlusconi told reporters in Portofino, Italy. “I can see a lot of synergies in terms of building a unique technological platform to collect data from users and possibly a unique advertising platform.”

Berlusconi said there was a risk of internet-based on-demand TV services such as Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. stealing viewers from the free-to-air broadcasters in the medium to long term. For now, however, Mediaset was trying to involve them in its plans, holding talks with them on co-production projects and advertising, he said.

British Broadcasters Are Trying to Take on Netflix. Again

Pier Silvio, the oldest son of the company's founder, said Mediaset is keen to bring Britain's ITV Plc on board and is working to recruit French free-to-air broadcaster Television Francaise 1 SA. He praised TF1 shareholder Martin Bouygues and compared him favorably to another French billionaire -- Vivendi's top shareholder Vincent Bollore.

“I have a lot of respect for Martin Bouygues. He is completely different from Vincent Bollore,” Berlusconi said at an event to unveil Mediaset's latest programming schedule. “He is a very clear, loyal person. It would be great also getting on board U.K.'s ITV.”

Mediaset shares were up 0.4% as of 1:36 p.m. in Milan.

Shareholder Battle

The Dutch holding company could help win over new partners by distancing the business from Italy and from Berlusconi, who is Italy's fourth-richest person with a fortune of $7.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Vivendi fired the latest salvo in its battle with the Berlusconis on Tuesday, demanding that Mediaset revoke a shareholder motion passed in April that doubled the founding shareholders' voting rights for at least two years.

Mediaset has no obligation to comply. However, Vivendi potentially has the power to block Mediaset's Dutch project if it decides to withhold its participation in the new holding company. Pier Silvio Berlusconi said he didn't think it would come to that, saying that if Vivendi opposed the plan it would have already sold its Mediaset shares.

“I am confident that Vivendi won't exercise its withdrawal rights because there would be no sense in that move,” he said.

--With assistance from Ben Stupples.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Thomas Pfeiffer, Frank Connelly

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