PE firms KKR and Apax are joining forces to bid for Vivendi’s Brazilian telco GVT, according people with knowledge of the matter cited by Bloomberg.
The consortium also includes Cambuhy Investimentos and JP Morgan’s Gavea Investimentos. Grupo BTG…
PE firms KKR and Apax are joining forces to bid for Vivendi’s Brazilian telco GVT, according people with knowledge of the matter cited by Bloomberg.
The consortium also includes Cambuhy Investimentos and JP Morgan’s Gavea Investimentos. Grupo BTG Pactual is still deciding whether or not to join the consortium.
The private equity bid would be backed by a US$3bn loan from Banco Bradesco, it was said.
The syndicate is reported to be willing to pay €5bn (US$6.8bn), short of Vivendi’s €7bn (US$9.56bn) asking price for the asset.
Vivendi mandated Rothschild and Deutsche Bank to assess options for GVT last August as part of a strategic review of the French conglomerate.
US satellite broadcaster DirecTV, which already has operations in the country through its 93% stake in Sky BrasilDirecTV, confirmed its interest in GVT in November last year. Other telcos such as America Movil, Liberty Global and Telecom Italia were all previously linked to GVT.
At the time Vivendi was reportedly only taking two of the bids seriously.
Telecom Italia chairman Bernabe recently ruled out expanding in Latin America.
The second round of bidding is said to end in late February.
Vivendi is also looking to offload its majority stake in Maroc Telecom with Etisalat and KT Corp linked with bids.