Fininvest asks 570 mn euros in damages from Vivendi (3)

(ANSA) - Milan, August 23 - Silvio Berlusconi's family holding company Fininvest on Tuesday asked for damages of 570 million euros from French media giant Vivendi over an alleged failure to respect an April 8 deal to buy its Mediaset media group's pay-TV unit Premium. Among the reasons for the request was the damage done to Mediaset shares, the holding company said. Last Friday Mediaset filed suit against Vivendi for allegedly pulling out of the deal. On July 29 Vivendi said Mediaset's business plan for Premium was "based on unrealistic assumptions". The plan said Premium would break even in 2018. The French group said in a statement that due diligence by Deloitte auditors at the beginning of June deemed the business plan to be "unachievable". Vivendi, which had backtracked from a deal to take full control of Mediaset Premium announced in April, also said in the statement that it was open to discussing another agreement with the broadcasting company. The two companies have previously threatened taking legal action against each other over the failed deal.