Complaint for "unfair competition": Canal+ demand €293m in damages from beIN Sports

The French pay-TV group Canal+ is seeking €293m in damages from the Qatari company, beIN Sports, as part of the complaint for "unfair competition" it filed with the Commercial Court of Nanterre on 10/07/2013. A hearing was held on the same day and the court will make its judgment on 18/06/2014, indicated the Registry of Nanterre to News Tank on 12/03/2014.

The bulk of the sum (€262m) corresponds to the "prejudice" that Canal+ claims to have suffered since the arrival of beIN Sports in the pay-TV market in France (June 2012), according to BFM Business on 11/03/2014. The subsidiary of Vivendi reportedly told the court of Nanterre that it had lost 187,000 subscribers (102,000 cancellations and 85,000 missed subscriptions) since that date and values each at about €1,500, based on financial analysis studies. The remaining amount (€31m) corresponds to the damage to the image of Canal+, based on a study conducted by the polling institute BVA.

In return, beIN Sports would have asked the court that Canal+ pay them damages of €66m due to the damage to their image inflicted by the court case…