Free and Canal+ maintain a solid partnership in France, Xavier Niel ensures a solid relationship with the Vivendi group while remaining distant from its owner Vincent Bolloré.
An operator and an audiovisual group cannot really ignore each other. Especially since Canal+ and Iliad (Free) are both run by very well-known billionaires: one by Vincent Bolloré, the other by Xavier Niel. The latter therefore cultivates his relations with Canal’s parent company, without getting too close to its shady owner.
An expert told BFM: “Xavier Niel has a real relationship with Maxime Saada, but not with Vincent Bolloré“. A closeness with the Chairman of the Board of Directors which has undoubtedly facilitated certain agreements such as the integration of Canal+ La Chaîne en Live on the Freebox Ultra launched in January and from a business point of view, Canal+ cannot ignore Free and vice versa: Free subscribers want to be able to access Canal+ content on their Freebox.
Especially since with its international expansion, Iliad will inevitably have to review Vivendi, which has multiplied its acquisitions in Europe and Asia and will soon take over Multichoice, the leading group of pay channels in Africa.where Xavier Niel wants to develop Free” according to BFM. This was already the case in Italy in 2015, when Xavier Niel and Vincent Bolloré faced each other for the takeover of Telecom Italia. In the end, Iliad will launch under its own brand in Italy, dynamiting prices and being the leading recruiter on mobile for years, resulting in significant losses for Bolloré. If Stéphane Richard, former boss of Orange, affirms that “Vincent Bolloré blames Xavier Niel for damaging Telecom Italia“, a close family member tempers: “There is neither passion nor hatred between us“.
The two billionaires have also grown apart politically, with Xavier Niel remaining close to Emmanuel Macron while relations are more strained between the president and Vincent Bolloré. Gone are the days when Xavier Niel and Vincent Bolloré posed together at a cocktail party for the Competition Authority…
This article was reprinted on the Univers FreeBox website
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