France: competition authority rejects the exclusive distribution agreement for Canal+/beIN Sports

The French competition authority has rejected the exclusive distribution agreement concluded between beIN Sports and Canal+, announced the chairman of the regulator, Bruno Lasserre (FRA), on 09/06/2016.

The regulator believes that "the conditions have not been met to permit the lifting of the injunction on the exclusive distribution of the premium sports channel that has been influenced by Canal+" since 2012.

"The circumstances of law or fact have not changed significantly since 2012," added the French authority. Canal+ was suspended by the decision of the competition authority, which was to decide on the lifting of injunctions which were taken against the Vivendi and the Canal+ group in the decision regarding the exclusive control of TPS and Canal Satellite bouquets in France.

• The French competition authority had previously postponed its decision until the first half of June 2016, on 19/05/2016.
• "Earlier in the week Canal+ brought new proposals to the competition authority, which will be market tested," indicated a spokesman for the regulator on 19/05/2016.
• Vivendi's supervisory…