Canal + Finalizes Acquisition of Orange’s Pay TV, Film Subsidiaries in France
Canal + reached a deal to acquire OCS and Orange Studio, the pay TV arm and film division of Orange, France’s leading telco group.
The agreement will make Canal + the exclusive shareholder of OCS and OCS +. Orange StudioThe company handles both series production as well as coproduction and theatrical distribution. Canal + did not reveal any figure in relation to the deal.
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OCS ranks as France’s second local pay TV service behind Canal+. Orange Studio, meanwhile, has so far co-produced 200 titles and boasts a library of more than 1,800 TV series and films, such as Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist,” and Florian Zeller’s “The Father,” both of which have won Oscars.
“Since the respective creation of OCS and Orange Studio, the competition in the TV sector has kept intensifying, notably for OCS, with the emerging of powerful global platforms,” said Canal + in a release.
“It’s in this context that Orange has wished to protect the development of these two divisions while protecting jobs and the pre-financing of movies,” the statement continued.
Orange and Canal + are in business together ever since 2011. Canal+ Group distributes OCS on their platform as part its cable bundle over the past 12 years. Canal+ owned 33.3% of OCS before this deal. OCS.
The pact will now be reviewed by staffers’ representatives and will be notified by the anti-trust board in France.
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