Binder Grösswang advises CANAL+ Group on Acquisition of M7

Binder Grösswang, in close cooperation with Gibson Dunn (Paris), advised the French CANAL+ media group in connection with its acquisition of M7, one of the largest independent pay-TV companies in Europe, operating in the Benelux countries and Central Europe. The planned takeover of M7 will enable the CANAL+ group, which already has subscribers in France, Switzerland and Poland, to expand its presence to seven more European countries, thus continuing its international growth to achieve a customer base of close to 20 million subscribers.

The transaction volume is approximately EUR 1 billion, based on a turnover of more than EUR 400 million. The signing is planned to take place within the coming weeks. The acquisition is subject to approval by the European Commission.

The CANAL+ group is the leading French audio-visual media group and a top player among the providers of pay-TV and theme channels and pay-TV services.

M7, which is owned by Astorg, one of the leading European private equity firms, operates in the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, distributing local and international TV channels such as HBO, Eurosport, Disney Channel, National Geographic and Nickelodeon as well as various radio stations. It currently has a total of three million subscribers.

Binder Grösswang’s core team for this deal, led by Corporate/M&A partner Thomas Schirmer, included Wolfgang Guggenberger (senior associate) and Felix Fuith (associate), and was additionally supported by Horst Lukanec (partner) and Sabine Apfl-Trompeter (senior associate) for employment law aspects; Markus Uitz (partner) and Artan Duraku (associate) for real estate matters, Johannes Barbist (partner) and Regina Kröll (senior associate) for regulatory issues, as well as Ivo Rungg (partner), Hellmut Buchroithner (counsel) and Philipp Spring (senior associate) for intellectual property law aspects.

The Gibson Dunn team was led by Ariel Harroch (partner, Paris office).