Vivendi to take over Mediaset Premium (3)

(ANSA) - Paris, April 8 - French media multinational Vivendi S.A. announced Friday it has reached "a binding accord" to take full control of Mediaset Premium via a 3.5% stock swap with the parent company, Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset SpA. This is "a key strategic industrial accord", the French company said. The two firms have "agreed to develop an industrial partnership with an international vocation" to include development of an online TV platform, Vivendi said in a statement. "We are very satisfied," said Mediaset CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of the company founder and former prime minister of Italy. "This was a strategic choice, which we absolutely sought out". He also denied the deal was a first step in the Berlusconi family's divesting from the media businesses. "Absolutely not," he told a board meeting.
    "We want to invest and push forward, and I say so with conviction - this is the first step in an opening onto the European market".
    Mediaset added 5.36% to close at 3.50 euros a share while Vivendi rose 0.85% to close at 18.42 euros a share in Friday's trading.