PARIS: French media group Vivendi has received a firm bid worth €6.7bn for its Brazilian telecom subsidiary GVT from Spanish group Telefonica, it said yesterday.
Shares in Vivendi, which has refocused its business on media activities, jumped 3.15 percent to €19.5 in early trading, in an overall French market showing a gain of 0.78 percent. GVT is Vivendi’s last remaining asset in the telecom sector. The offer was worth 20.1bn reals ($8.9bn).
Vivendi said that although GVT was not formally for sale, it would consider the offer. The bid was based on an offer of 60 percent in cash and 40 percent in shares in Vivo which is Telefonica’s brand name in Brazil.
Vivendi would end up with 12 percent of Vivo which, with the transfer of GVT, would become the biggest telecom operator in the biggest market in Latin America, Telefonica said in a separate statement.
Vivendi, if it accepted the offer, would also have the possibility of buying 8.1 percent of Telecom Italia. The biggest shareholder in the Italian company is Telco, controlled by Telefonica.
Telefonica said that its offer was valid until September 3.
The cash part of the bid would be financed by a capital increase by Telefonica Brazil. Telefonica would subscribe to this fully in respect of its 74-percent interest in that company.
In 2013, GVT was courted by US satellite television operator DirectTV which saw a tie-up as a way of boosting its activities in Latin America. But DirectTV eventually abandoned this approach.
AFP
