The move means that TV4 will acquire Canal Plus, which owns the broadcasting rights to a wide range of films and sporting events and is strongly placed on the market.

Canal Plus owns the rights to the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, the NHL ice hockey league as well as Sweden’s top football and ice hockey leagues.

The company also has broadcasting agreements with the vast majority of American and Nordic film companies.

“We are now establishing ourselves for the first time within the premium pay TV sector, a market that hes been developing broad distribution and strong growth for a number of years,” said TV4 CEO Jan Scherman in a statement.

Scherman believes the acquisition of C More Entertainment will reduce TV4’s reliance on advertising revenue.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is worth around €320 million ($490 million), a statement from ProSiebenSat1 said.

ProSiebenSat1 announced several months ago that it would sell several units, and planned to use revenue raised from the transaction to reduce its debt.

“Free television is our core activity. That is why the sale of C More fits our strategy,” the statement quoted boss Patrick Tillieux as saying.

ProSiebenSat1 saw its net profit slump last year to around €90 million last year owing to a strong fine and the cost of integrating SBS, the operator of several television stations in Scandinavia, Belgium and eastern Europe.

C More was part of the package acquired as part of the purchase of SBS.

TV4 belongs to the family-owned Bonnier Group.