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EC on Bain-Kantar deal; LaLiga in UK, Ireland; Netflix's European hire

TOP NEWS

* The European Commission approved Bain Capital LP's proposed acquisition of a majority stake in data analytics company The Kantar Group Ltd. The commission did not raise antitrust concerns since the companies are not active in the same sectors.

* LaLiga has entered into a partnership with British pay TV channel Premier Sports to broadcast the Spanish soccer league's matches via multiple platforms in the U.K. and Ireland. The three-year agreement will allow LaLigaTV to be made available by Premier Sports, and will serve as a dedicated channel that will air LaLiga Santander live 24/7.

* Netflix Inc. hired former Constantin Medien AG executive Sasha Bühler as its director of original film for Germany, France and Nordics, Deadline reports. Bühler, who was appointed by Netflix's vice president of international original film, David Kosse, will take on the role in December.

* Apple Inc. showcased a trio of iPhones with advanced camera features, a new Apple Watch and iPad, and updates to its upcoming services offerings at a press event that largely met analysts' expectations. More details around the highly anticipated Apple TV+ subscription streaming service were also provided.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen proposed to retain Denmark's Margrethe Vestager as the competition commissioner as she presented her new 27-member executive team. Von der Leyen also nominated Vestager to helm the EU's digital policies in addition to her current role.

* Accenture PLC has acquired Madrid-based big data analytics and artificial intelligence company Pragsis Bidoop, which will be integrated into Accenture's applied intelligence business. The financial terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. Pragsis Bidoop has more than 200 employees in Spain and the U.K.

UK AND IRELAND

* Eric Tveter, former CEO of Liberty Global PLC's central and eastern European operations, has been appointed as the chairman of London-based startup Veloce Esports, Digital TV Europe reports. Tveter has also become a major investor in the esports company.

* Banijay Group SAS unit Banijay Rights Ltd. and U.K.'s Proper Content have teamed up to develop and produce series for the U.K. and international markets. The companies have begun collaboration for titles "Suicidal: In Our Own Words" and "How You Can Help Stop Suicide," which will both air on Viacom Inc.'s Channel 5 (UK) as well as "The School That Tried To End Racism," which will air on Channel 4 (UK).

* The U.K. edition of Marie Claire, owned by TI Media Ltd., will no longer produce print magazines and will only become available online, London's The Guardian reports. TI Media has reached out to about 35 employees that will be affected by the change.

* British distribution company Republic Film Distribution has bought U.K. rights to feature documentary "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am," Deadline reports. Republic plans to release the film in the U.K. in 2020.

* Lynsey Atkin has been appointed as executive creative director of Channel 4's in-house agency 4creative, replacing Alice Tonge, who has recently resigned. Chris Wood, who was interim head of 4creative following Tonge's exit, will become the deputy executive creative director.

* Liberty Global announced the preliminary results of its "modified Dutch auction" tender offer to purchase about $2.7 billion of its ordinary shares. Pursuant to the tender offer, Liberty Global anticipates acquiring about 24,088,242 class A shares at $27.50 per class A share, and about 75,453,852 class C shares at $27.00 per class C share, though Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., each acting as principal.

* U.K. content delivery software provider Velocix Solutions Ltd. appointed David Sharpley as its CEO. Sharpley most recently was CEO of Incognito Software Systems Inc. Velocix and Incognito are portfolio companies of Volaris Group Inc.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* German investor Active Ownership Capital Sàrl has acquired less than a 3% stake in Swiss telecoms company Sunrise Communications Group AG, Reuters reports, citing sources. AOC will be opposing the takeover of Swiss telecoms group UPC through Sunrise.

* Streaming platform Pluto TV Europe launched new channels, Comedy Central – Made in Germany and Comedy Central Pluto TV, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Advanced Television reports.

* SAP SE's German headquarters is adding a competitive advantage for the company compared to its U.S. rivals due to fewer restrictions, Reuters reports, citing CEO Bill McDermott.

* Ralf Baumann, CEO of German online job platform StepStone A/S, a unit of Axel Springer SE, has decided to step down by the end of 2020. Baumann will be leaving the company ahead of his retirement but will continue to serve as a member of Axel Springer's executive board.

* International Business Machines Corp. plans to cooperate with German research institute Fraunhofer Society to examine quantum computing. The company is backed by the German government, or Bundesregierung, which plans to invest about €650 million in the domain within two years, reports Handelsblatt.

FRANCE

* Free's parent company, Iliad, and Altice France SA reached an agreement on the distribution of free-to-air channels BFM TV, RMC Découverte and RMC Story, which had been cut off on Aug. 27. The channels are available again on Freebox decoders free of charge, Les Échos reports. The agreement does not include catchup TV or other value-added features.

* Alphabet Inc. unit Google LLC's e-commerce platform went live in France, Presse-Citron reports. The service, called Acheter sur Google, includes about 30 merchants with more expected to join in the near future.

* The editorial staff of Le Monde published a page asking shareholders to grant them a "right of approval," which guarantees their editorial independence. Only Xavier Niel has provided agreement to date, while Matthieu Pigasse, Daniel Kretinsky and Madison Cox are yet to do so.

* Gaumont SA posted first-half 2019 results with consolidated revenues of about €47.4 million, compared with about €65.6 million during the same period last year.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* The management of Proximus agreed to appoint a social mediator after spontaneous staff protests opposing the Belgian provider's reorganization plans broke out in various parts of the country, reports Het Laatste Nieuws. The staff and the trade unions have called for an immediate snapping of contact with current CEO Dominique Leroy, who announced her move to Dutch rival KPN NV by the end of this year.

* Technology solution provider Fujitsu Ltd. has appointed Michael Verveckken as new managing director of Fujitsu Belgium. Verveckken took over from Yves de Beauregard.

* Various Dutch broadcasters have traveled to The Hague to campaign for public broadcasting, saying further cutbacks in public broadcasting must be halted, reports Villamedia.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Ericsson signed a deal with Nex-Tech Wireless LLC on voice over LTE and Wi-Fi calling services, as well as enabling 5G capabilities in some areas in Kansas in the U.S.

* Nokia Corp. has agreed to conduct joint 5G field trials with NTT Docomo Inc. and OMRON Corp. The trial aims to establish if a layout-free production line with autonomous mobile robots is feasible.

* The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority has decided that free TV and analog radio in Sweden should still be regulated. In relation to this, operator Teracom AB must continue to provide access to a wholesale product for distribution of free TV and analog radio via terrestrial networks. The company must also apply cost-oriented pricing for these products.

* Telenor ASA-owned TV distributor Canal Digital AS is cutting about 50 positions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, Kampanje reported. Last year, Canal Digital saw about 5% fall in the number of customers.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* French media group Vivendi SA denied a report that it was planning to buy the Berlusconi family's controlling stake of 44% in Italian broadcaster Mediaset SpA at more than €3.5 per share, Reuters reports. Lettera43 reportedly said Citigroup Inc., on behalf of Vivendi, approached former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to buy the stake.

* Mediaset España Comunicación SA's over-the-top service Mitele Plus drew flak from Spanish consumers association OCU for alleged low quality, expensive price and compatibility issues, Advanced Television reports.

* Telefónica SA unveiled plans to make money from an additional portfolio of wireless tower assets over the next 12 months, as well as seek tower-sharing deals with other telcos. The Spanish telecom giant also plans to propose an early retirement option and reskilling opportunity to its unionized Spanish workforce.

* Telecom Italia SpA signed up to become a client of Broadcom Inc. for its portfolio license agreement, Telecompaper reports. Under the deal, the semiconductor devices maker will provide IT solutions to the Italian telco's enterprise infrastructure.

* Orange Espagne SAU deployed a digital rights management solution developed by content protection provider Viaccess-Orca Ltd. on set-top boxes used for the telco's IPTV service.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Commercial 5G services may be rolled out in Hungary before year-end, Reuters reports, quoting International Telecommunication Union Secretary General Houlin Zhao. Meanwhile, Laszlo Palkovics, Hungary's minister in charge of innovation and technology, said the government hopes to complete 5G spectrum tenders by October.

* Russia operator MegaFon appointed Andrey Levykin as CEO of its Megafon Retail Ojsc unit, replacing Kirill Shibanov who is leaving the company in September, Telecompaper reports.

* Mobile TeleSystems PJSC named Igor Mishin vice president in charge of media development at the mobile operator, Telecompaper reports.

* Ericsson is cooperating with Orange Polska SA on a live urban 5G test network. The Orange SA unit will operate on the 3.4-3.6 GHz band under a test license and aims to have commercial 5G running in Poland in 2020/2021.

FEATURED NEWS

Apple event live updates: 3 new iPhones unveiled; Apple TV+ to debut for $4.99: Analysts are not expecting new revolutionary devices to be revealed at Apple's annual product launch Sept. 10 but believe refreshed iPhones could boost the company's emerging services business.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Broadcast Investor: Economics of broadcast TV retransmission revenue 2019: Although retrans fees are expected to grow 11% year over year in 2019, TV broadcasters are aiming to secure higher retrans fees to arrest the decline in net retrans margins attributed to rising programming costs after affiliation renewals.

Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.

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