Mediaset rejects Vivendi's alternative offer for TV deal

Milan

MEDIASET SpA rejected an alternative proposal for an alliance with Vivendi SA, as a conflict that broke out suddenly this week between the two European media companies devolved into a full-on war of words. Mediaset fell to the lowest level since November 2014.

The Mediaset board, controlled by the family of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said in a statement on Thursday that it would seek to enforce the deal Vivendi agreed to in April, the purchase of Mediaset's Premium pay-TV unit in a share swap valued at about 880 million euros (S$1.3 billion). Vivendi unexpectedly cancelled the transaction on Tuesday, offering to negotiate a new deal with more favourable terms.