Canal Plus looking to expand internationally again

French pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus is eyeing the acquisition of a number of international pay-TV operators as it looks to boost its footprint outside of France.

Chief executive Bertrand Meheut told Dow Jones Newswires that he is keen to expand the business internationally and build on its platforms in Poland and North Africa.

Meheut said in the interview that Canal Plus was still “very dependent on France” in pay-TV and that one of its objectives was to develop its footprint internationally.

Last year, the company struck a joint venture deal with Vietnamese broadcaster VTV and it hopes to ink a number of similar deals in other countries. It is also on the hunt for acquisitions following last year’s failed bid in association with Telefónica to acquire Spanish pay-TV platform Digital Plus from Prisa.

The company currently spends about €2bn on acquiring content including sports and movies, and producing original series. Meheut said that the company was looking to increase this over the next 12 months, particularly building on the success of series including Braquo and Carlos. He said that such programmes enhanced the value of the platform in that they were exclusively accessible to Canal Plus subscribers.