French media group Lagardere is to push ahead with its plan to list its stake in DTH provider Canal+ in spring 2011, according to Lagardere’s CFO Dominique d’Hinnin cited by media reports.
During an investor conference in Spain, d’Hinnin reportedly said…
French media group Lagardere is to push ahead with its plan to list its stake in DTH provider Canal+ in spring 2011, according to Lagardere’s CFO Dominique d’Hinnin cited by media reports.
During an investor conference in Spain, d’Hinnin reportedly said that Vivendi, which owns a majority 80% stake in Canal+, never responded to a price proposal made by Lagardere.
Those comments echo previous statements made by Lagardere’s management board. During the 2010 half-year earnings call, the company explained that Vivendi declined to make a proposal, saying it preferred to keep its money to invest in telcos. Under a 2007 shareholder agreement, Lagardere has a put an option to sell its 20% holding in Canal+ to Vivendi between March 15 and April 15 every year until 2014 or list it if Vivendi refuses to buy it.
Lagardere had been hoping to get around ?1.5bn for its 20% holding from Vivendi although back in April, Credit Suisse valued it closer to ?1.2bn. A few months ago, Vivendi was said to have offered Lagardere just under ?1.3bn but Lagardere is reportedly hoping to achieve a higher valuation through the public markets.
Some experts in the industry speculated that the sale of the NBC Universal stake by Vivendi to General Electric for US$2bn in early October would trigger new deal talks for Canal+.
At the start of September, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said that the company’s objective remained “full ownership of our France-based entities”, which include French mobile operator SFR but also Canal+. Levy added that “there may well be opportunities in the near future”. Despite general feelings that Vivendi may ultimately buy Canal+, one banker told SatelliteFinance that the IPO would still go ahead if no agreement can be reached on valuations.
Thibaud Morin, senior vice-president, M&A, strategy and development at Vivendi, was recently quoted saying that Vivendi has not been informed yet as to whether Vodafone would be ready to sell its 44% stake in SFR. Morin reportedly said that as far as Vivendi knows, Vodafone has not decided to sell its stake.
