Vivendi Group will seek a listing for its pay-television business, Canal+, in London, the French media conglomerate said on Monday.
Canal+ is currently engaged in a bid to acquire JSE-listed MultiChoice Group in a $6.8 share all-cash deal, pending regulatory and other approvals.
The move by Vivendi is part of a plan to unbundle the sprawling media giant that will also include the listing of its advertising business, Havas, in Amsterdam.
Under the plan, Canal+ will be listed on the London Stock Exchange “to reflect the company’s international dimension, particularly as part of the ongoing combination with MultiChoice”.
“With close to two-thirds of its subscribers outside of France, a film and TV series distribution network present on all continents, and growth drivers resulting from its recent developments on the African, European and Asia-Pacific markets, a London listing would represent an attractive solution for international investors likely to be interested in the group,” Vivendi said in a statement.
“Canal+, depending on the success of its public tender offer for MultiChoice, could be subject to a secondary listing on the Johannesburg stock market.”
Vivendi is controlled by the French billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
According to a report in the Financial Times (paywall), almost two-thirds of Canal+’s subscribers live outside France – and that’s before the MultiChoice deal is even consummated.
“The final part of Bolloré’s three-pronged break-up will bring together Vivendi’s publishing operations, including its 63.5% shareholding in Lagardère and Prisma Media, into a new company to be called Louis Hachette Group,” the FT said.
This new group would be listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris, with a separate listing of subsidiary Lagardère on Euronext Paris.
