- Vivendi files a petition to protect its right to vote at Mediaset

- The French group intends to vote against Mediaset's proposed merger at next shareholder meeting.

By Olivia Bugault

Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) said Monday that it has filed a petition with a Milan court to protect its voting rights at the Italian broadcasting company Mediaset SpA (MS.MI), and that it intends to vote against Mediaset's proposed merger into Media for Europe NV (MFE) at the next shareholder meeting.

The French media group said its court request follows Mediaset's decision to bar Vivendi from voting during the Italian company's shareholder meeting on April 18, and that the move aims at preserving Vivendi's right to attend and vote at the next extraordinary shareholder meeting on Sept. 4.

Vivendi said that, at this meeting, it plans to vote against Mediaset's plan to merge into Media for Europe NV (MFE) because of the lack of rights that minority shareholders, including Vivendi, would have under the new entity. Vivendi would vote with its Mediaset shares that equal to 9.99% of the voting rights, it said.

Under Mediaset's merger proposal, the Dutch holding company Media for Europe NV (MFE) would be a combination of Mediaset and Mediaset Espana Comunicacion SA (TL5.MC).

Last week, Mediaset filed a complaint against Vivendi with Italy's market regulator, accusing the French company of acting to depress its stock price by leaking information with the aim of hindering the merger plan.

Vivendi owns 28.8% of Mediaset shares but it had to transfer the part in excess of 10% in a trustee, Simon Fiduciaria SpA, in April last year.

Write to Olivia Bugault at olivia.bugault@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2019 05:24 ET (09:24 GMT)