The sales of Digital+ and Cuatro make phase two

Spain's National Competition Commission (CNC) has announced today the start of the second round of procedures for the merger of the operations of Telecinco/Cuatro and PRISA/Telefonica/Telecinco/Digital+ even before hitting the deadline for the first phase, which ended on July 12.

PRISA is meeting with all formal procedures that the Technical Services and the Council of the Commission are processing and which were requested by the various companies involved. The sale of 22% of Digital+ to Telefonica was signed last November 25, 2009, and the agreement to sell 22% of Digital+ to Telecinco, and thus merge the operations of free-to-view TV channels Telecinco and Cuatro, was announced last December 18, 2009.

PRISA reiterates its readiness to cooperate with the Commission to facilitate the swift resolution of the proceedings and to dispel any doubts that may exist regarding competition policy.

PRISA is convinced that the procedures will be granted the approval of the commission, since, on the one hand, Telefónica formerly held a stake in Digital+ via Sogecable, SA from 2003 to 2008. Furthermore, Telefonica's entry into the capital of Sogecable was already reviewed and approved by the then Court of Competition. The merger of Telecinco and Cuatro occurs under the auspices of the Law for the Merger of Private Television Channels, passed in 2009, that expressly authorizes the concentration of free-to-view TV channels.

A communiqué from the National Competition Commission said that its Board now has a period of two months to make a final decision on the cases.