Press release -
CANAL+ Group pursues international development with acquisition of Alterna’TV from Eutelsat Americas
Paris, 7 April 2016 - CANAL+ Group, through its subsidiary THEMA, announces the acquisition from Eutelsat Americas of Alterna’TV, a Miami-based content distribution company.
Alterna’TV is a content distribution platform that provides principally Latin American channels to cable and Internet TV operators in the United States. It currently reaches over ten million subscribers across the Americas.
The transaction includes a long-term agreement for the lease of capacity on the EUTELSAT 113 West A and EUTELSAT 117 West A satellites.
Through this purchase, Canal+ Group is reinforcing its position in North America, where THEMA established a local office in 2013. Leveraging its strong international expertise in content distribution and marketing, the acquisition will allow THEMA to create a new integrated business unit to promote its commercial development across the Americas, exploiting the synergies between its existing distribution activities and those acquired through Alterna’TV.
THEMA is active in five continents with a portfolio of over 100 channels distributed through leading international pay-TV platforms.
Commenting on the acquisition,François Thiellet,CEO ofTHEMA, said: “The acquisition of Alterna’TV marks a new step in our partnership with Eutelsat with whom we have been working since our creation. It will allow us to scale up our presence in North and Latin America and will reinforce our team and the portfolio of channels we offer pay-TV operators in these markets. It will complement the platform we already operate in Canada with Terra Terra (that notably distributes Planète+ in Canada and became part of THEMA in January 2016) to create Thema America which aims to become a privileged partner of operators, replicating our success with our European model that draws on an innovative editorial and commercial approach.”
Patricio Northland, CEO of Eutelsat Americas, a subsidiary of Eutelsat, added: “Our relationship with THEMA and Canal+ enters a new phase with the signature of this agreement. We plan to continue to support the growth of Alterna’TV in the Americas through our fleet of high-power satellites and unique local infrastructure. I take this opportunity to thank the Alterna’TV teams for their significant contribution to its success over the years.”
The terms of the transaction are confidential.
Topics
For more information on THEMA:
Marianne BEDE-- SVP Marketing and Business development
Marianne@thematv.com 01 83 62 78 34
For more information on Canal+ Group:
Laurence GALLOT – Director of Communication CANAL+Group
laurence.gallot@canal-plus.com - 01 71 35 02 22
About THEMA
Created in 2005 par François Thiellet, THEMA operates three international subsidiaries and works with over nine agent offices in key European markets. The company has a portfolio of over 100 channels and has established strong relationships with leading pay-TV platforms in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America. In October 2008 THEMA pioneered the launch of the first package of African TV channels on the French market. Today the "Bouquet Africain" distributes 23 channels from 11 countries. THEMA also packages about 10 other ethnic channel platforms. Since 2012, THEMA has been a publisher of a number of TV channels, including NOLLYWOOD TV, Novelas TV and Gospel Music TV.
In January 2016, THEMA acquired Terra Terra, a Canadian company specialising in TV channels distribution to operators in Canada and North America.
For more information on THEMA and its channel portfolio: www.thematv.com
About Eutelsat Communications
Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 40 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies.
Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location.
Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 37 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.
For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com
Press
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