Vivendi is not currently planning any further acquisitions in Latin America, a source has told TelecomFinance. This is due to the rapid growth of the French telecom and media group’s Brazilian subsidiary, the fixed-line and broadband provider Global…
Vivendi is not currently planning any further acquisitions in Latin America, a source has told TelecomFinance. This is due to the rapid growth of the French telecom and media group’s Brazilian subsidiary, the fixed-line and broadband provider Global Village Telecom (GVT).
Speculation is rife about Vivendi’s future acquisition plans, as it moves forward with its plan to sell its stake in the US media company NBC Universal to General Electric.
The sale of NBCU is expected to net Vivendi US$5.8bn. US$2bn has already been paid by GE. The rest will be paid when GE completes its transaction with Comcast, which is likely to be either at the end of 2010 or early 2011.
The Vivendi source said that the company’s priority is organic growth in Latin America. This follows from the strong performance in 2010 from GVT. Vivendi increased its stake from 58% to 99.17% earlier in the year.
In a presentation to investors in late November with its Q3 2010 figures, GVT announced that its revenue was up 47% year-on-year, while its adjusted EBITDA had grown 56% on the previous year’s figures.
This strong performance was despite the fact that GVT has yet to establish a large presence in any of Brazil’s major cities.
