Vivendi Completes NBCU Stake Sale, SFR Deal Moves Closer
January 26 2011 - 3:28AM
Dow Jones News
Media giant Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) Wednesday said it has now
received all of the money from the sale of its stake in NBC
Universal, a move that could kick-off talks with Vodafone Group PLC
(VOD) over French telecom operator SFR.
In a statement, Vivendi said it has now received the total $5.8
billion in cash from the sale of the 20% stake in NBCU, after the
three-way deal with current NBCU owner General Electric Co. (GE)
and Comcast Corp (CMCSA) received regulatory approval.
"We are very satisfied that our strategic objective to exit NBC
Universal has been completed...Vivendi now has control of all its
assets and is fully focused on pursuing its profitable growth
strategy," Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said in a
statement.
Vivendi has repeatedly said in past months that it is only
waiting to receive the full proceeds from the sale of NBCU to start
talks to buy Vodafone's 44% SFR stake, which analysts say is worth
between EUR7 billion and EUR8 billion.
A Vivendi spokesman declined to comment when asked if Vivendi
had started talks with Vodafone or if this means talks could start
soon.
-By Ruth Bender, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40 17 17 54;
ruth.bender@dowjones.com