Italy judge sets Feb. 1 date for Vivendi request to suspend Mediaset TV project

MILAN (Reuters) – A Milan-based judge set Feb. 1 as the date for a new hearing for a request by France’s Vivendi (PA:) to suspend a corporate overhaul at Italy’s top commercial broadcaster Mediaset (MI:), two legal sources said on Tuesday.

Controlled by the family of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Mediaset (MI:) wants to merge its Italian and Spanish (MC:) units into a Dutch entity, dubbed MediaforEurope (MFE).

The broadcaster wants to use the new entity to pursue tie-ups in Europe to take on competition from streaming apps such as Netflix (O:) and web giants like Google (NASDAQ:)

But Vivendi, which is Mediaset’s second largest shareholder with a 29% stake, is fighting the project in court, saying the governance structure of the new entity would strengthen Berlusconi’s grip on the company.

Mediaset faces a March deadline to see its Dutch holding company plan through, otherwise the decisions of a September shareholder meeting that approved the project will no longer be valid based on existing Dutch laws.

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