France’s Canal+ has taken full ownership of SPI International, which is behind European channel brands including including FilmBox, Film1, Kino Polska and streamer Dizi.
The French giant acquired a 70% stake in SPI in 2021 and has bought the remaining 30% from Hilda Uziyel according to regulatory filings.
SPI runs more than 40 free-to-air and pay-TV channels across European markets including Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, the Netherlands and Russia.
Loni Farhi, who founded SPI almost three decades ago, stepped down in April alongside CEO Berk Uziyel.
Canal+ International director of business integration, Erwan Luherne, and Jeroen Bergman, chief of content & business development at Canal+ owned M7 Group, took over their remits.
The SPI deal strengthens Canal+’s market presence across Europe.
Last month, Canal+ took a 12% stake in Nordic streamer Viaplay becoming its largest single shareholder.
Canal+ has been steadily building its international footprint and now has 25.5 million subscribers worldwide, including 9.5 million in France and 7.6 million in Africa.
In France Canal+ is in the process of acquiring rival streamer OCS, in which it has a 33% stake. Through its ownership of M7 Group, Canal+ has a significant presence in the Benelux countries and central and eastern Europe. In June, Canal+ took a significant minority stake in pan Asian streaming service Viu.
You are not signed in
Only registered users can comment on this article.
 (1).jpg)
Ofcom strengthens reality show welfare guidance
UK regulator Ofcom has published strengthened guidance for broadcasters about protecting the welfare of participants in constructed reality programmes, particularly those involving emotional or physical intimacy.
.jpg)
Sreya Biswas to lead BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Studios has named Sreya Biswas as Head of its acclaimed Natural History Unit (NHU) to lead the unit’s editorial, commercial, and strategic direction.
.jpg)
Broadcasters raise "over-dependency" questions, amid Microsoft outages
Microsoft is scrambling to reconnect users around the world, as outages affect all of its core services.
Yamaha acquires Disguise
Japanese audio and musical instrument giant Yamaha Corporation has acquired London-based virtual production specialist Disguise.
.png)
Samsung Ads launches interactive advertising formats
Samsung Ads has introduced three interactive advertising formats to Samsung TV Plus: polls and surveys, product carousels, and QR codes.
 (1).jpg)
.jpg)
