France’s Vivendi is reportedly in talks about a merger between its telecoms unit, SFR, and cableco Numericable.
The parties entered into discussions about a fortnight ago and are considering combining SFR – France’s second-largest mobile operator…
France’s Vivendi is reportedly in talks about a merger between its telecoms unit, SFR, and cableco Numericable.
The parties entered into discussions about a fortnight ago and are considering combining SFR – France’s second-largest mobile operator – and Numericable in a new entity, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources close to the discussions. Vivendi would own 49% of the shares, while Numericable’s owners, private equity firms Carlyle and Cinven and Altice, would own 51%, the report stated.
Vivendi and Numericable declined to comment.
According to French newspaper Le Figaro, Vivendi has hired BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs to manage the deal, while Numericable has hired Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
SFR, which has about 25 million subscribers, is said to be worth about €15bn and Numericable, with about 500,000 users of its high-speed internet cable, about €3-5bn.
Vivendi is conducting a review of its operations internationally to address debts that totalled €14.1bn at the end of June. The company is also considering selling its telecoms units in Brazil and Morocco: GVT and Maroc Telecom respectively.
The rumoured sales are in line with earlier reports suggesting Vivendi’s chairman is considering moving away from telcos following the resignation of former CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, who left in June following a disagreement over strategy. The disagreement was said to focus on asset disposals and whether the firm should focus on media or telecoms.
