BMA understands that Orange and the Canal+ Group have agreed on a memorandum of understanding anticipating the acquisition by the Canal+ Group of all capital held by Orange in the OCS pay TV package and Orange Studio, the film and series co-production subsidiary. Accordingly, Canal+ Group will become the sole shareholder of the two companies following this transaction.
Orange Studio currently has more than 200 co-productions to its credit and a catalogue of nearly 1,800 audiovisual and cinematographic works, including Oscar-winning and emblematic films such as The Artist and The Father.
Since their creation in 2007 and 2008, respectively, competition in the audiovisual sector, particularly for OCS, has intensified with the emergence of powerful international platforms. As a result, Orange has endeavoured to ensure the continued development of these two subsidiaries while preserving jobs and the pre-financing of audiovisual content.
Orange entered discussions with the Canal+ Group, its historical partner and a recognised European player in creating and distributing content to ensure these objectives. Canal+ is already a 33.34 per cent shareholder of OCS since 2012 and is its leading distributor. In addition, the top film and television studio in Europe, StudioCanal has many assets to promote the Orange Studio catalogue, the companies note.
The companies added that the operation will be presented to employee representative bodies and will be notified to the French Competition Authority.
