Following the news that Roku partnered with private equity company Apollo Global Management to make a joint bid for a piece of Starz, now is Vivendi’s pay-TV business Canal+ which is working on a potential bid for a minority stake in Lions Gate Entertainment’s premium cable and satellite television network.
The French group controlled by billionaire Vincent Bolloré has made expanding in pay TV and streaming a priority after selling most of its stake in Universal Music Group, leaving Canal+ as its main source of profit. The French premium television channel currently has more than 24 million subscribers, and it has more than doubled its subscribers in the past five years with about 15 million of them in Europe and 7 million in Africa, although it has no presence in the United States.
Starz had about 20 million streaming subscribers at the end of 2021. According to people familiar with the matter, Lions Gate Entertainment is seeking a valuation for Starz for approximately US$4.4 billion, including debt, although the potential bidders have cast that figure as too high. In addition to Canal+ and Roku, Directv is also believed to be interested in the purchase.
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