Canal+ Group and its Luxembourg-based subsidiary M7 Group are to exercise their call option on the 30% of shares in SPI International that they don’t already own. The end result is that they will now have total 100% ownership of the group.
At the same time, SPI founders Berk Uziyel and Loni Farhi have stepped down from their leadership roles with immediate effect. Erwan Luherne, director of business integration for Canal+ International, and Jeroen Bergman, board member of M7 Group responsible for content and business development, will take over their responsibilities.
Luherne, who has been with Canal+ for 18 years, becomes managing director of SPI International. He will be supported by Bergman, who spent 20 years at Liberty Global before launching his own consultancy business in 2019 – working with SPI. The Amsterdam-based executive then joined the M7 board in mid-2022.
M7 Group CEO Hans Troelstra said: “SPI International has a long history of providing top-quality content to audiences around the world, and we are eager to take the company to a new stage of its development. Both Erwan and Jeroen have strong track records so I have confidence they will continue to bring great success to SPI.”
In a joint statement, Luherne and Bergman said: “We are committed to building on the company’s strong foundations and leveraging the Canal+ Group collective expertise to continue providing engaging and relevant content to viewers.”
Canal+ acquired its original 70% stake in SPI International in September 2021.
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