French conglomerate Vivendi has put the sale of its Brazilian unit GVT on hold after US satellite broadcaster DirecTV pulled out of the bidding process.
Vivendi said it was not prepared to sell GVT for a low price.
It had been suggested previously…
French conglomerate Vivendi has put the sale of its Brazilian unit GVT on hold after US satellite broadcaster DirecTV pulled out of the bidding process.
Vivendi said it was not prepared to sell GVT for a low price.
It had been suggested previously that the other bidder for GVT, a private equity consortium led by KKR, would not be able to match an offer from DirecTV because of a lack of synergies.
A person close to the matter said talks with the PE consortium have not progressed because of differences in valuation of the asset. Vivendi is said to value GVT at €7bn (US$9.56bn).
He said that while the auction had been called off, the strategic review for GVT remained ongoing and that Vivendi would continue exploring options for the unit, including the possibility of a sale at a later date.
However, in an interview with TelecomFinance Bernstein Research analyst Claudio Aspesi had previously expressed doubts if Vivendi could receive higher bids for GVT if it sold the asset six to 12 months later.
DirecTV confirmed yesterday that it has withdrawn its interest in the asset after saying back in February that it would decide on whether or not to bid for the asset before the end of Q1 2013.
Also in February Vivendi CFO Philippe Capron had said a sale would depend on the size of the offers. He warned at the time that the company would wait and potentially focus on selling different assets if offers were inadequate.
Vivendi owns three telecoms operators, all of which it put under review last year as it looked to focus on its media businesses, which include Universal Music Group, pay TV provider Canal+, and video games company Activision Blizzard.
It has subsequently ruled out a sale of its French telecoms business SFR. Meanwhile the conglomerate’s efforts to sell its 53% stake in Maroc Telecom appear to be progressing. Etisalat, Ooredoo (QTel) and KT Corp are all said to be interested. Vivendi is still in the process evaluating offers.
Vivendi generated €28.99bn in revenues for 2012. It also reported €3.3bn EBITDA and forecast it would fall to €2.9bn for 2013. GVT generated revenues of €1.7bn and achieved EBITDA of €740m.
