The arrival of new shareholders for the Italian digital platform Telepiu is close to being finalised with mobile phone operator Wind being the front runner.

Although Telepiu has denied that an agreement has already been concluded, it admits that the deal could be signed in the next few weeks. The shareholding structure of Telepiu was set to change following the Canal Plus-RAI agreement, which has seen the pubcaster taking a 1 per cent stake, with the possibility of increasing its participation to up to 10 per cent. This agreement also provided for the entrance of other Italian and European shareholders who would take up to a 35 per cent stake, while RAI would take its stake to 2 per cent. At the time of the agreement, the French managers promised to cede the majority in Telepiu to Italian partners. However, since then, Mediaset gave up its option on Fininvest’s 10 per cent stake and Fininvest decided to pass the stake to Canal Plus.

Wind, which is 51 per cent owned by electricity utility Enel, with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom each holding a 24.5 per cent stake, is likely to take a 30 per cent stake. However there are still problems. France Telecom is a direct rival to Canal Plus – both in digital TV (via TPS) and technology (Viaccess). Other Italian companies that could take the remaining 18 per cent include financial institutions Comit, Cofiri and Sanpaolo IMI.