The deal that sees French pay television operator Canal Plus SA of France and Dutch satellite pay television operator Nethold NV merge is seen as a big blow to Hughes Electronics Corp’s DirecTV unit in Europe. According to the Wall Street Journal, Hughes had been negotiating to acquire 30% of Nethold and was unaware of separate talks under way with Canal Plus. The deal will extend Canal Plus’s reach into 1.5m Nethold homes in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe , and will give it a 45% stake in Telepiu SpA of Italy, but 1.3m Nethold subscribers in Greece, Cyprus, the Middle East and Africa aren’t part of the acquisition.
