Vivendi has enlisted Rothschild and Deutsche Bank to assess strategic options for its Brazilian telco GVT, according to reports.
GVT could be sold outright, a stake could be sold, or Vivendi may propose an IPO, according to Bloomberg citing an unnamed…
Vivendi has enlisted Rothschild and Deutsche Bank to assess strategic options for its Brazilian telco GVT, according to reports.
GVT could be sold outright, a stake could be sold, or Vivendi may propose an IPO, according to Bloomberg citing an unnamed source.
Vivendi acquired GVT for around US$4bn at the end of 2009 but is now looking to offload assets and cut its debt pile.
The Brazilian telco could fetch a price of up to US$10bn, according to Reuters citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
Vivendi said it never comments on rumours regarding its businesses.
Earlier this year it was rumoured that Vivendi was considering a sale of its video games publisher Activision, but the company abandoned that plan after not being able to achieve the sale price it wanted.
If the company now decided to dispose GVT this would follow a bitter boardroom split between chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou and the group’s former CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, who stepped down recently following disagreements over strategy.
It was first reported that Vivendi may sell GVT in July. Reuters cited two unnamed sources suggesting that Fourtou considers telcos too capital intensive and risky, and suggested Telefonica, Oi, TIM Brazil and America Movil may all consider bidding.
GVT achieved an EBITDA of €601m (US$807.5) according to Vivendi’s 2011 annual report, a 39.4% increase on 2010, while revenues topped €1.4bn (US$1.88bn).
GVT offers fixed-line, broadband and VoIP services. Vivendi acquired a 58% stake in the Brazilian firm in 2009 and increased its stake to 99.2% in April 2010.
