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Cyfrowy Polsat bids for Netia stake; Apple to pay Irish back taxes in 2018

TOP NEWS

* Cyfrowy Polsat SA submitted a bid for a stake of about 32% in Polish cable operator Netia SA, which will be purchased from the latter's two major shareholders for 638.8 million Polish zlotys. Cyfrowy Polsat also plans to launch a tender offer to secure 66% of Netia's voting shares at the general meeting of the latter's shareholders.

* The Republic of Ireland will start receiving €13 billion in back taxes from Apple Inc. in the first quarter of 2018, London's Financial Times reports. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the country reached an agreement with the tech giant on the terms of an escrow fund that will hold taxes and expects the process to conclude in January 2018.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* 21st Century Fox Inc.'s Fox Networks Group will introduce a National Geographic on-demand service in Europe and Africa in 2018, Variety reports. Jan Koeppen, head of Fox Networks Group Europe and Africa, said the new National Geographic+ nonlinear service has been designed to appeal to millennials.

UK AND IRELAND

* The British Broadcasting Corp. and ITV Plc will split their FIFA World Cup 2018 coverage. The BBC will show England's opening two games and the first two quarter-final choices, among others, while ITV while air the last group game and a choice in the round of 16. Both broadcasters will show the final.

* The request from Uber Technologies Inc. for the U.K. Supreme Court to take the company's filed appeal against a ruling on its drivers' rights, instead of the Court of Appeals, has been rejected, London's The Daily Telegraph reports.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* The German cartel authority has prohibited German events agency CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA from entering exclusive agreements with advance booking offices as well as live concert agencies. The news follows a recent decision by the cartel authority to prohibit a takeover of concert agency Four Artists Booking Agentur GmbH through CTS Eventim.

* More than 100 sound engineers from Cologne, Germany, have signed an open letter to TV channels, producers and camera men to demand fairer pay, reports DWDL. The group wrote that despite higher demands for their roles, their pay has been stagnant for 20 years.

FRANCE

* Discovery Communications Inc., which holds the European TV and digital rights to the Olympics, is seeking a deal of a minimum of €150 million for the Paris 2024 games rights according to an unnamed source, Les Echos reports. The deal is not likely to go to public network France Télévisions in view of recent budget cuts. Meanwhile Discovery is said to prefer multiple contracts with various networks rather than a single exclusive agreement.

* Franco-German TV channel Artea SA signed a three-year partnership agreement with HellFest. Under the deal ARTE will air the music festival live and offer the shows on replay for the three months following the event.

* Orange SA launched a disability awareness app, Ellomi, on the Apple Store and Google Play, which immerses users in the daily life of a person with an invisible handicap. Orange said it wants to reaffirm its commitment to keep disabled staff in full employment.

* France-based Euronews NBC's content will be available on easyJet's Air Time entertainment offering in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Consumer electronics retailer MediaMarkt has appointed Arnold Sporrel as CEO and COO sales for its Dutch division. Sporrel started as a part-time salesman at MediaMarkt 17 years ago.

* Dutch electronics retailer Kijkshop has been sold to Swedish investor SparkistanStClemens by investment company Listérus & Partners, writes FD. The sale follows Kijkshop changing its strategy from a retail chain to a platform where consumers sell products to other consumers.

* A court in the Netherlands has decided that operator KPN NV must repay part of a customer's claim regarding the costs of a mobile phone in combination with a subscription, writes FD. According to the court, KPN had wrongly advertised the device as "free" and the cost of the phone had been unclear.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Telia Co. AB is acquiring about 38,000 Norwegian mobile customers from former subsidiary NextGenTel, subject to regulatory approvals. The sale is part of NextGenTel's strategy of dropping private mobile customers and focusing on the business market.

* Danish telecom regulator Energitilsynet has withdrawn permission for operator Plenti ApS to apply roaming surcharges to customers using its services in the EU. Plenti was earlier given the permission as it had proven that it suffered a deficit on its retail roaming services, but the permission has been withdrawn as the company has been acquired by TDC A/S.

* TDC will reduce payments to its own pension fund, which it anticipates leading to an increased cash flow of 75 million Danish kroner in 2018 and a net present value of saved future payments of 400 million kroner. The telecom group said the pension fund is well funded and the decision will not affect pension payments.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Mediaset España Comunicación SA secured exclusive rights to broadcast the 2018 World Cup in Russia on its free-to-air Telecinco and Cuatro channels, Telecompaper reports. The Mediaset SpA unit will air all 64 games from June 14 to July 15.

* Telefónica SA is adding the Movistar Sports 1 and 2 channels to its Movistar+ pay-TV offer, Telecompaper reports, citing Xataka Movil. The channels will be available to subscribers of the Movistar+ Familiar satellite package, who will pay an additional €5 per month whether or not they want the channels.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Telekom Romania merged all of its mobile businesses under one entity, Telekom Romania Mobile Communications SA, Business Review reports. The merged operations include the mobile telephony businesses of Germanos Telecom Romania SA, Sunlight Romania Filiala Bucuresti SRL and Telemobil SA.

* Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon, Paramount Comedy and VHI Europe channels in Russia have been exempted from advertising restrictions on pay TV channels, Broadband TV News reports, citing RBC and AKTR. The change in status comes after media and telecom regulator Roskomnadzor granted terrestrial licenses to the channels.

* Subscription video-on-demand service Showmax added live streaming to its service in Poland, Broadband TV News reports. The platform has started streaming "Saturday Night Live Polska," which will be uploaded to Showmax for on-demand viewing.

* Polish company Beta rolled out Folx, a mobile virtual network operator relying on the network of P4's Play, Telecompaper reports, citing Telko.in.

* MegaFon CEO Sergey Soldatenkov unveiled the Russian operator's plans to merge mobile retail chain Euroset with another mobile retail chain within a month after completing the deal on the division of the retailer, Telecompaper reports, citing Tdaily.ru.

FEATURED NEWS

M&A Replay: European deals: Altice selling Swiss businesses; Vivendi/Havas deal approved: Altice struck a deal to sell its Swiss businesses to InfraVia Capital Partners, while Vivendi secured regulatory approval in France for its takeover of advertising agency Havas.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Wireless Investor: LTE finally unleashed in Poland, 4G subs double in 2016: Total mobile connections fall over last four years due to millions of inactive prepaid SIMs deactivations, but growing M2M deployment will drive growth in penetration in the next decade.

Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.