Canal Plus to take minority stake in Orange cinema channels instead

French telecom giant Orange and Vivendi-owned pay-TV operator Canal Plus have abandoned plans to merge their dedicated cinema channels into a combined bouquet under a 50-50 partnership.

French business daily Les Echos reported that Canal Plus will instead take a minority stake of between 34 to 40 percent in the Orange Cinema Series (OCS) channels.

Under a deal announced last January the OCS bouquet, consisting of five genre-based cinema channels, and Canal Plus’ TPS Star offering were due to merge in a 50-50 partnership. 

“In our discussions with Canal Plus, there were several issues regarding governance and distribution on which we could not reach an agreement which led to a decision to modify the partnership, which still remains fundamental,” Xavier Couture, director of new business development at Orange was quoted as saying in Les Echos.

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