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French TV deal signed
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January 13, 2000: 4:28 a.m. ET
Conglomerate Lagardère spends $1.1B on Canal Plus investments
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LONDON (CNNfn) - France's Canal Plus finally confirmed a long-anticipated deal in the television sector Thursday, when missiles-to-publishing firm Lagardère bought stakes worth a total of $1.1 billion in two of its subsidiaries.
Lagardère will buy a 34 percent share in digital TV platform CanalSatellite for an estimated 5.8 billion French francs ($910 million), as well as 27 percent of Canal Plus's themed TV channel unit MultiThématiques for 1.5 billion francs.
Lagardère is buying the holding in MultiThématiques in order to bring the themed channels to new markets outside France. They are already available in France, Spain, Poland, Germany and Italy. The deal will mean Lagardère and Canal Plus have equal holdings in MultiThèmatiques, whose other shareholders include Liberty Media (27 percent) and Vivendi (9 percent). Liberty Media (LMGA) is owned by AT&T (T), while Vivendi (PEX) is Canal Plus's largest shareholder.
Lagardère will acquire a 34 percent interest in CanalSatellite, valuing the company at 17 billion francs. It is buying a 30 percent stake from Vivendi and Time Warner (TWX), parent of CNNfn.com, with the remaining 4 percent coming directly from Canal Plus, Europe's largest pay-TV operator.
Canal Plus (PAN) stock, which has soared in recent weeks on speculation about the deal, rose a further 3 percent to 139.2 euros in Paris, while Lagardère (PMMB) stock rose 6 percent to 66.70 euros.
As well as media assets such as publishing house Hachette, Lagardère also owns a one third stake in defense manufacturer Matra Aérospatiale, which is in the process of merging with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace to form Europe's largest defense firm. 
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Canal Plus
Lagardère
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