(Bloomberg) -- Mediaset SpA’s bid to create a European broadcasting alliance suffered a blow when a court suspended a decision by shareholders in its Spanish affiliate to approve the plan.

In a win for Mediaset shareholder Vivendi SA, which opposes the tie-up, a commercial court in Madrid suspended the decisions taken at the Sept. 4 extraordinary meeting of Mediaset Espana SA shareholders pending a final judgment in a claim lodged by Vivendi, Mediaset Espana said in a regulatory filing Friday.

“Mediaset España deeply disagrees with this preliminary ruling, and accordingly it will immediately appeal it hoping that it will be revered by the High Court of Madrid,” the company said.

Shares of Mediaset Espana erased earlier gains and dropped as much as 2.5% in Madrid trading following the regulatory filing, while Mediaset fell as much as 1.5% before paring drops and was little change as of 12.28 p.m. CET.

Vivendi is Mediaset’s second-biggest shareholder and opposes its plan to create a pan-European broadcaster by merging its Italian and Spanish units. The Mediaset Espana EGM had approved the merger with Mediaset .

To contact the reporter on this story: Macarena Munoz in Madrid at mmunoz39@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Charles Penty, Thomas Pfeiffer

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