Vivendi to Appeal Amsterdam Court Decision in MediaForEurope Case

   By Mauro Orru

Vivendi SA will appeal a decision by an Amsterdam court rejecting its request for a cautionary injunction aimed at blocking the creation of MediaForEurope, Mediaset SpA's planned pan-European media holding company, a Vivendi spokesman told Dow Jones late on Wednesday.

The court ruled that Mediaset's plan to merge its Italian and Spanish operations to create MediaForEurope as a Dutch holding company MediaForEurope is compliant with Dutch law, Mediaset said Feb. 26.

Vivendi will go ahead with an appeal "because if the Mediaset merger plan goes ahead, it will lead to disproportionate damage to all minority shareholders," the spokesman told Dow Jones.

The French media company sought an injunction on the planned merger in January after Mediaset shareholders backed amendments to the articles of association of MediaForEurope as well as terms and conditions for special voting shares to be issued for the planned merger.

Mediaset had barred Simon Fiduciaria--an asset trust which holds a 19.9% stake in Mediaset on behalf of Vivendi--from exercising its voting rights at the meeting on Jan. 10.

The decision from the Amsterdam court, the third legal proceeding in less than a month between Mediaset and Vivendi, offers some respite to the Italian broadcaster after a court in Milan also ruled against Vivendi in early February.

However, a Spanish court ruled in favor of Vivendi in mid-February, meaning that the merger remains suspended until a decision has been taken later in the summer, Vivendi's spokesman added.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2020 02:17 ET (07:17 GMT)

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