Mediaset hopes truce with Vivendi to come with content deal with Telecom Italia - media

MILAN (Reuters) - Mediaset's (MS.MI) chief executive said he hoped the shared interest over TV content with Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) could pave the way to a truce with France's Vivendi (VIV.PA), speaking in a interview published late on Sunday.

"TIM needs our content, it is very interested in an agreement, but there is a pending matter with their controlling shareholder Vivendi," CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

"Let's see if these common interests on content will help us overcome difficulties," he added.

Mediaset and Vivendi have engaged in a legal battle since the French group last year unexpectedly backed out of a deal handing it control of the Milan group's pay-TV unit Premium. The rift deepened when Vivendi built up a 28.8 percent stake in Mediaset, controlled by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Vivendi also controls TIM, with a 24 percent stake.

Sources close to the matter have said the two sides are in talks over a possible deal, with Vivendi hoping to reach an agreement before a Dec. 19 court hearing in Milan on the case.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Will Dunham)