Orange close to US deal for Dailymotion

Stéphane Richard

French video sharing site Dailymotion is close to securing a partnership with a major US company, according to Stéphane Richard, the CEO of Dailymotion’s parent company Orange.

Richard told Le Web conference in Paris that Orange would likely sign a deal in the coming weeks with “a major player in the digital economy”.

According to French reports, Microsoft’s MSN is the most likely candidate for a partnership in the US. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Richard met a month ago in Paris and the two companies have already collaborated on integrating Dailymotion on Microsoft’s websites.

Earlier this year, Orange’s talks with Yahoo to sell a stake in Dailymotion broke down after the controversial intervention of French minister Arnaud Montebourg. Orange subsequently committed to invest €30 million from internal resources in Dailymotion.