Cleary Gottlieb is advising CANAL+ GROUP (CANAL+) in its proposed partnership with beIN SPORTS, through an exclusive distribution agreement and sublicense agreement.
CANAL+ and beIN SPORTS announced having initiated exclusive talks with a view to entering into an exclusive distribution and sublicensing deal in France on December 9, 2019.
Under the proposed transaction, CANAL+ will offer all beIN SPORTS premium sports channels and content within its CANAL+ offers, while also being the exclusive distributor of beIN SPORTS to third-party providers across all platforms in France starting June 1, 2020. In addition, beIN SPORTS will also sublicense exclusively its 2020-2024 Ligue 1 football rights to CANAL+, allowing CANAL+’s subscribers to enjoy two games on each match day, including 28 of the 38 top Ligue 1 games of each season, starting from next season 2020/2021. The exclusive agreement will run for a renewable period of five years.
The new CANAL+ and beIN SPORTS partnership will allow CANAL+ to market an unparalleled sports offering bolstered by beIN SPORTS’ outstanding rights portfolio (across football, handball, major U.S. sports, rugby, and tennis), while beIN SPORTS will benefit from the expertise, distribution know-how, and infrastructure of CANAL+ to establish much broader scale and reach across the French market. It will also benefit and create value for the French TV and films production industry, of which CANAL+ is the largest investor.
The proposed transaction will be submitted to beIN SPORTS’ employee representative bodies in France.