Vivendi raises €2bn for M7 buy
June 5, 2019
Vivendi has placed a €2.1 billion bond to finance the acquisition of M7 by its Canal+ unit. The bond, which Vivendi says was 2.5 times over-subscribed, matures in thirds at three, six and nine years.
Canal+ revealed the M7 Group takeover last month as it prepares to take on Netflix in Europe. When the complete the deal will see Canal+ in seven European countries with total subscribers of approximately 20 million.
Maxime Saada, chairman of the Canal+ group executive board, stated: “We are particularly pleased with this acquisition project made possible by Vivendi. The operation would allow Canal+ Group to approach 20 million subscribers worldwide. Our global subscriber base will have almost doubled in five years, with a clear acceleration starting in 2015. This major operation will allow us to strengthen our distribution capacity in order to leverage content originating from our library and our numerous production operations in Europe.”