Vivendi has proposed a €7.60 per share tender offer to buy out French free to air broadcaster Societe d’edition de Canal Plus (SECP), the media group announced yesterday at its Q1 2015 results.
The company currently holds a 48.5% stake via its DTH…
Vivendi has proposed a €7.60 per share tender offer to buy out French free to air broadcaster Societe d’edition de Canal Plus (SECP), the media group announced yesterday at its Q1 2015 results.
The company currently holds a 48.5% stake via its DTH provider Canal+ Group, a 100%-owned subsidiary.
The offer, worth up to €467m (US$532.7m), values the business at some €962m (US$1.1bn) and represents a 19.1% premium over yesterday’s €6.38 closing share price.
Vivendi said “a large number” of SECP shareholders had requested the “friendly transaction”, also citing a change to French law in 2009 allowing Canal+ to increase its stake in the free to air channel.
This deal, which has been approved by Vivendi’s supervisory board, will be paid in cash.
As part of its strategy to beef up on content, Vivendi is also in exclusive talks to buy 80% of video website Dailymotion from French incumbent telco Orange for €217m (US$247.6m).
Vivendi said it would formalise its offer in the coming weeks, once it has filed a statement with media regulator Conseil Superieur de l‘Audiovisuel.
The French firm added that it did not intend to squeeze out the remaining SECP shareholders, but reserved the right to do so if its tender offer reached 95% of total shares.
Telecom Italia stake is opportunistic
Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine said during the same earnings call that it viewed its stake in Telecom Italia (TI) as opportunistic.
The media conglomerate is soon to become TI’s largest shareholder after buying 8.3% of its voting rights from Spanish telco Telefonica, as part of the French firm’s sale of Brazilian broadband provider GVT.
Vivendi sees the stake as a way to de-risk the transaction from currency impact, and “an opportunity to create a link with the company”, the CEO said.
He pointed out that Vivendi, which has nearly exited telecoms investments in France, Brazil and Morocco to focus on media and content, does not intend to re-enter the telecoms business.
Notably, de Puyfontaine added that the company will seize any opportunities which would add value to its media and content businesses, possibly hinting at recent speculation that it is looking to increase its position in TI, and merge it with Italian broadcasting giant Mediaset.
Last month, a local report suggested that Vivendi would like to up its current 8.3% of voting rights in TI to 30%, helping to pave the way for such a merger.
A tie-up with Mediaset, which also operates leading Spanish TV network Mediaset Espana, would give it the opportunity to expand into the Italian and Spanish content sectors, while TI would become a content distribution platform.
However, the deal would likely face intense regulatory and political scrutiny.
