The media and financial services holding company Fininvest, headed by Silvio Berlusconi, announced on July 28 that it has sold its 10 per cent stake in leading Italian digital platform Telepiu, to the latter’s majority owner, the French pay-TV group Canal Plus.

Fininvest, said it had pulled out of Telepiu to focus on commercial terrestrial broadcasting in Italy and abroad. "We recognise, however, the importance of the pay-TV sector, in which we intend to keep a significant presence as a supplier of content," said Fininvest in a statement. The company controls the film production and distribution company Medusa as well as Italy’s largest private broadcaster Mediaset which operates the Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4 TV channels. Canal Plus said it bought Fininvest’s stake under the terms of a pre-existing agreement, but did not disclose the selling price which is estimated to be around L250 billion (Pounds 86 million). The French group now effectively wholly owns Telepiu, although it has agreed to sell up to 10 per cent to pubcaster RAI over a five-year period.

There have also been some changes in the shareholding structure of Mediaset. On August 7, Canal Plus cut its stake in Mediaset from 6.43 to 3.575 per cent, while Saudi investor Prince Al Waleed ceded his 2.282 per cent stake to Lehman Brothers International Europe for a period of three years, but has retained his voting power. The remaining stakes in Mediaset are held by Fininvest with 47.261 per cent and Taurus TV International (a subsidiary of Kirch Group) with 1.295 per cent.

The decision by Canal Plus to reduce its stake in Mediaset did not come as a surprise. Back in February 1997, following its merger with Nethold, Canal Plus drew up plans to give up non-strategic interests, including its stake in Mediaset. It decided to put its quota on the market by issuing five-year bonds worth L600 billion (Pounds 207 million). Now, after the market value of the Mediaset shares has increased, Canal Plus has decided to halve its stake, a move which could be repeated in the next few months. However, the decision by Prince Al-Waleed to sell his entire stake came as a surprise. The operation was conducted by Al Waleed’s Portuguese holding Kingdom Investimentos e Servicos which reserved "the voting right to those stakes". According to unconfirmed rumours, Al Waleed was in need of fresh capital and by giving Mediaset shares as collateral, he received a sum not less than L400 billion (Pounds 138 million).