MILAN/PARIS- Italian broadcaster Mediaset and shareholder Vivendi were still negotiating on Friday to find a deal to end a three-year legal battle after all-night talks failed to find a breakthrough, sources said.
Mediaset’s board has called a meeting to examine the details of a possible deal, the sources said, as the two sides face a Friday deadline set by a judge in Milan to settle their differences.
“They’re still not there,” one of the people said.
Mediaset and Vivendi are locked in a series of disputes and recently fell out over the Italian broadcaster’s plans to create a pan-European TV champion through a Dutch-based holding company called MediaForEurope (MFE).
If the two sides do not show up with an agreement over disputed MFE bylaws, the court could rule on a request from Vivendi to suspend MFE operation.
The Mediaset board on Friday could give a conditional green light to a deal subject to a few conditions, one of the sources said.
In addition to the pricing of Mediaset shares Vivendi should sell, there has been disagreement over a five-year standstill clause the Milan-based broadcaster wants in the deal to stop Vivendi buying back MFE shares, a source previously said.
On Thursday sources said the two groups were close to ending their legal stand-off with a deal that would see Vivendi sell a 20% stake in the Italian broadcaster.
The Milan court hearing is scheduled to begin at 1130 GMT.
(Content and photos syndicated via Reuters)