Vivendi SA got an opportunity to challenge a merger of Mediaset SpA's Italian and Spanish businesses after a Milan court allowed it to vote on the plan.
Vivendi, Mediaset's second-biggest shareholder, opposes the project to combine the businesses into a Dutch holding company known as Media for Europe, and Mediaset's board had sought to exclude Vivendi from the vote at an investor meeting on Wednesday.
Mediaset's controlling Berlusconi family sees the Dutch move as a first step toward a wider alliance of European broadcasters that would help it face up to the growing challenge from streaming giant Netflix In.
Vivendi sees it as an attempt by the Berlusconis to cement their control over Mediaset and has vowed to vote against the move. #italy #business #invest #merger #finance #home
