Tag Archives: Media & Publishing (TRBC level 3)

Italy

UPDATE CDP 4-Italy offers Enel deals for extra 10% off Open Fiber | Instant News


* Enel is expected to hold a board meeting on the deal on Saturday

* CDP is set to take control of the company’s broadband infrastructure

* Deal seen as a potential upgrade for network projects with TIM (Adds Open Fiber statement, details)

MILAN, April 30 (Reuters) – Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) said on Friday it had agreed to bid Enel for 10% of Open Fiber in a move that would increase the Italian state lender’s stake in the broadband infrastructure company. . 60%.

This move comes as Enel, Italy’s largest utility company, prepares to sell its stake in Open Fiber. Macquarie’s Australian fund has offered up to 2.65 billion euros ($ 3.20 billion) for all or part of Enel’s 50% stake.

Enel is expected to hold a board meeting on Saturday to discuss the deal, said three sources with knowledge of the matter. Open Fiber on Friday said it was giving the necessary permits to the entrance to Macquarie in the capital.

CDP also said it had agreed to a binding term sheet with Macquarie outlining Open Fiber governance before the fund became a shareholder in the fiber-optic business.

With a controlling stake in Open Fiber, CDP has the potential to mitigate an old, disputed plan to combine Open Fiber network assets with the network assets of the former Italian telecom monopoly Telecom Italia to create a unified network operator.

Bets on the single broadband network project following the CDP announcement lifted the stake in Telecom Italia by 4%, making it the biggest winner on Milan’s blue-chip index.

CDP is the second largest shareholder in Telecom Italia, behind French media company Vivendi.

A single network will avoid duplicating investments in fiber launches as Italy seeks to close its digital divide with the rest of Europe, a priority of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s previous government.

However, several ministers in the new government led by Mario Draghi cast doubt on the plan due to regulatory issues, saying alternative options were also being considered.

CDP said it was committed to bringing in “new resources” before the deal closed to help accelerate development of broadband networks.

Under the proposed scheme, CDP and Enel will each inject cash into Open Fiber to boost its finances, three sources told Reuters. One source said each partner is likely to deposit around 150 million euros.

State-controlled Enel declined to comment and added it would make the statement only after analyzing official documents.

$ 1 = 0.8278 euros Report by Stephen Jewkes, Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte, additional reporting by Giancarlo Navach, written by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Kirsten Donovan

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Italy

UPDATE CDP 1-Italy offers Enel deals for 10% Open Fiber | Instant News


(Added details, resources about cash calls)

MILAN, April 30 (Reuters) – Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has agreed to bid Enel for 10% of Open Fiber in a move that will increase the Italian state lender’s stake in the broadband infrastructure company to 60%.

CDP, which like utility Enel currently owns 50% of Open Fiber, also said it was committed to bringing in “new resources” before the close of the deal to help accelerate broadband network development.

CDP and Enel will each inject cash into Open Fiber to boost its finances, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

One source added that each partner is likely to deposit around 150 million euros.

Enel did not immediately comment on the cash injection.

CDP said in a statement that it had allowed the signing of a binding term sheet with Macquarie on the governance of Open Fiber when the fund, which is in talks to buy Enel’s remaining stake in the broadband group, becomes a shareholder.

Enel has been in talks to sell up to 50% of Open Fiber to Macquarie for 2.65 billion euros ($ 3.21 billion) since last year.

But CDP wants to buy a portion of Enel’s stake to take control of the broadband operator as part of a broader plan to combine it with incumbent Telecom Italia (TIM) ‘s landline assets.

Controlled by the Ministry of Finance, CDP is TIM’s second largest shareholder after French media company Vivendi.

$ 1 = 0.8256 euros Report by Stephen Jewkes, Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte, written by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Jacqueline Wong and Jason Neely

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Switzerland

Switzerland is preparing a 3,000 person event after July for participants to be vaccinated | Instant News


ZURICH, April 28 (Reuters) – Switzerland could potentially allow events with up to 3,000 spectators after July, the government said on Wednesday, although such events would be limited to attendees who had been vaccinated against COVID-19, it could prove they had recovered. of the disease or a negative test result for the disease.

The government says this is not a reopening plan but a road map designed to prepare cantons and event organizers if the event allows.

It also sets out a scheme to provide financial assistance of up to 5 million Swiss francs ($ 5.46 million) to event organizers, if they are asked to cancel a scheduled event on short notice.

The government said last week that it does not expect further large-scale easing of coronavirus restrictions until May 26, citing the fragile public health situation and reopening measures already underway.

The country is now in a so-called protection phase, which will last until everyone in particularly vulnerable groups such as the elderly receives both doses of the vaccine, possibly by the end of May, the government said.

Switzerland this month further relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, allowing restaurants to reopen outdoor terraces and sporting events to take place with spectators. Cinemas and concert venues can welcome guests back, albeit with a limited number.

The government will reassess the situation on May 12.

The death toll from the pandemic in Switzerland and neighboring Liechtenstein surpassed 10,000 on Wednesday as the number of cases remained high, public health data. here show. (Reporting by John Miller, editing by John Revill)

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Switzerland

REFILE-Nestle staff assisted in the production of Lonza for the Moderna -Swiss TV vaccine | Instant News


(Refiles to correct the word fill in the fourth paragraph)

ZURICH, April 27 (Reuters) – Drugmaker Lonza Group, under pressure to find workers to help accelerate production of the COVID-19 vaccine Moderna Inc, recruits temporary employees from food giant Nestle to staff the Swiss factory that makes materials for shooting , state broadcaster RTS said on Tuesday, citing sources.

Moderna last week blamed projected second-quarter delays in shipping its vaccines to countries including the UK and Canada for the production bottleneck. Lonza from Switzerland is a major supplier of the ingredients needed to manufacture messenger RNA vaccines.

Lonza, who declined to comment on the delays, previously said the three new production lines slated to produce the Moderna vaccine in Visp, Switzerland, could take months to reach “cruising speed”.

Now, the French-speaking Swiss broadcaster says Nestle employees have registered after the Swiss government intervention to help fill the void.

A call for “volunteering” via Bern came a week ago to employees of Nestle’s research center in western Switzerland who had until Monday to move forward for the three-month Lonza mission, according to the broadcaster.

Last year, Lonza Chair Albert Baehny cited finding suitable workers – each new production line requiring 60-70 employees – as a challenge that could slow projects down.

A Nestle spokesman gave no specific details, reported RTS, saying only that it wanted to play an “active role in global vaccination”.

Lonza did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Nestle did not comment either.

Last week, Canada said 1 million to 2 million doses of Moderna out of the 12.3 million doses scheduled for second-quarter delivery would be postponed until after July.

Lonza, which also supplies the bound COVID-19 vaccine to the US from Moderna from a facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, makes ingredients in Visp before they are transported to Spain to be bottled by Spanish contract drug manufacturer Rovi.

This month, Rovi’s role expanded beyond bottling, to include a production line for vaccine ingredients that will be operational this year.

Moderna aims to make at least 700 million doses by 2021. (Reported by John Miller Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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Italy

UPDATE 1-The Italian court overturned the votes of Mediaset shareholders excluding Vivendi’s trust | Instant News


(Recast, added Vivendi’s comment, context)

MILAN, April 23 (Reuters) – An Italian court canceled a vote by Mediaset shareholders at a 2018 meeting in which Vivendi’s confidence was banned, the Italian broadcaster said on Friday.

According to the court, all actions stemming from a national law giving Mediaset the power to exclude Vivendi would be considered null and void, Mediaset said in a statement.

The decision marks another win for Vivendi who has struggled to regain full voting rights in Mediaset.

A Vivendi spokesman said the group was very satisfied with the decision.

Vivendi and Mediaset have been at odds since the French conglomerate dropped a deal to buy a Mediaset pay TV unit in 2016 and then build a 29% stake in the group, which broadcasters consider hostile.

Friday’s court ruling stems from a ruling by the European Union’s top court last year that said Italian law that forced Vivendi to put a large portion of his stake in a Milan-based TV group into trust violated the bloc’s rules.

In 2017, the Italian telecommunications watchdog decided Vivendi had an excessive presence in the country’s media and telecommunications sector and should sell his interests in one or the other.

As a result, Vivendi, who also holds a 24% stake in the incumbent telecom Telecom Italia (TIM), parked two-thirds of his Mediaset stake in the Simon Fiduciaria trust. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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