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Italy: Sky to return pay-tv assets to Mediaset after antitrust loss

By  |  April 14, 2019

Italy’s biggest commercial broadcaster Mediaset agreed on Friday, April 12, to cancel the sale of pay-tv assets to Sky’s Italian unit following a probe from the country’s antitrust regulator that showed the deal could affect competition, reported Reuters.

Mediaset announced in November it was selling its digital terrestrial pay-tv platform, known as R2, to Sky as part of a broader content agreement between the two broadcasters. A source close to the deal said Sky paid €23 million (US$26 million).

But the deal was subject to unconditional approval from Italy’s competition watchdog, which last month announced it was looking into the accord as it could affect competition in the domestic pay-TV market, where Sky is already the dominant player.

The companies said in a joint statement they considered it unlikely the watchdog would approve the deal without setting conditions and therefore the platform would return to Mediaset.

Full Content: Reuters

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