Vivendi has received an offer of €3.9bn (US$4.4bn) for its 20% stake in quad-play operator Numericable-SFR.
Altice, which already owns 60% of the telco, is looking to buy 10%, and Numericable-SFR itself is looking to buy the other 10% to build up its…
Vivendi has received an offer of €3.9bn (US$4.4bn) for its 20% stake in quad-play operator Numericable-SFR.
Altice, which already owns 60% of the telco, is looking to buy 10%, and Numericable-SFR itself is looking to buy the other 10% to build up its treasury shares.
Vivendi received 20% in Numericable-SFR as part of the deal which saw Altice buy mobile operator SFR for €13.4bn last year.
The €40 per share Altice and Numericable-SFR are offering represents a discount of 18.9% on Numericable-SFR’s closing price on 17 February.
Numericable-SFR shares were up 3.79% today as investors took confidence from Altice looking to consolidate its position.
Vivendi will examine the offer over the coming days and its supervisory board, which is convening on 27 February, will decide whether to accept it. The French media conglomerate said that, if accepted, the offer would mean it had received a total of €17bn for SFR.
Numericable-SFR is looking to buy its half of the stake through a share buyback programme, which would be submitted to a vote at a shareholder meeting to be held by 30 April at the latest. The buyback would be financed through cash-on-hand and the operator’s credit lines.
Altice is looking to buy the other 10% through Altice France, via which it holds its 60% stake in Numericable-SFR. Altice said it would pay for its portion by 7 April 2016, and has offered to pay an annual interest rate of 3.8% on the sum until it is settled, with a first-demand bank guarantee attached.
The move comes days after a report said Altice’s advisers were in preliminary discussions with French industrial group Bouygues to buy its mobile unit, Bouygues Telecom.
Altice was reported to be examining the financial and regulatory obstacles to completing such an acquisition, which would dilute France’s mobile market from four operators to three.
