Global law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges advised ITI Media Group Limited and TVN S.A. on their agreement with French entertainment company Vivendi to combine their pay-TV operations in Poland. The joint venture, to be called “n/C+”, will be made up of TVN’s subsidiary Platforma “n” and Vivendi’s Canal Plus Cyfrowy Sp Zoo. Vivendi’s pay-TV subsidiary Canal Plus (Canal+) will hold a 51% stake in n/C+, which has been valued at 5.94 billion zlotys ($1.7 billion). As part of the transaction, Canal+ also agreed to acquire a minority stake in TVN from ITI with the option to gain control commencing three years after the closing of the transaction.

TVN is Poland’s leading private television broadcaster and is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. ITI is its controlling shareholder and is the leading media and entertainment group in Poland.

The transaction was handled by teams from Weil’s Warsaw and London offices and included, from the Warsaw office, Pawel Rymarz, managing partner, assisted by partner Artur Zawadowski, counsel Lukasz Gasinski and associates Marek Maciag, Magdalena Pyzik, Jacek Balicki, Iwona Gebusia, Maciej Wroblewski, and Filip Lesniak. The London team was led by Ian Hamilton, assisted by associates Lindsay Germano, Oliver Walker, and James Crook, alongside partners James Hogben and David Meredith and associate Hoyoon Nam advising on financing aspects. In addition, Iwona Her from the Warsaw office and Romain Ferla from the Paris office delivered advice related to the antimonopoly aspects of the transaction.