Canal+, a subsidiary of the French listed media company Vivendi has signed an agreement to acquire M7 Group from private equity firm Astorg for US$1.12 billion.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, the M7 Group is one of the largest pay TV operators in Europe and sells hybrid satellite / OTT Pay TV packages to 3 million homes, through six different brands across seven countries in Europe. M7 also operates an internet and telephony provider in the Netherlands called Online.nl. M7 is a leading DTH satellite Pay TV operator in the Benelux region as well as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Since 2014, M7 Group’s majority shareholder is Astorg, a leading European private equity firm which has backed since its entry the ambitious development plan of the M7 management team through organic and inorganic initiatives.
Charles-Hunert le Baron, Astorg
In line with our investment philosophy, Astorg has encouraged M7 to develop its external growth through acquisitions (the most recent one being UPC Direct in Eastern Europe) and also investments made to improve the customer experience (e.g. Over-the-Top features).
Hans Troelstra, CEO of M7 Group
Over the last 5 years, we have successfully transformed our Satellite HD offers to fully interactive hybrid offers available on all devices including Smart – TV’s. Following this transaction M7 will get access to the content creation and channel publishing capabilities of Canal+.
