French pay TV giant CanalPlus has acquired content distribution platform AlternaTV as part of its planned expansion in the U.S.
AlternaTV provides Latin American channels to cable and Internet operators in the U.S. and reaches 10 million subscribers.
The purchase was made through the CanalPlus subsidiary Thema, Francois Thiellet’s distribution company it acquired in 2014. Thema was established in France in 2005 and opened its U.S. office in 2013. Thema has a portfolio of over 100 channels on five continents and also produces the African fiction channel Nollywood.
CanalPlus said the purchase was designed to reinforce its position in North America, and it will create a new integrated business unit to continue its U.S. expansion.
“[The deal] 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,” said Thiellet. “It will complement the platform we already operate in Canada with Terra 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.”
CanalPlus is a subsidiary of Vincent Bollore’s Vivendi.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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