A report from investment bank Jefferies says that despite Vivendi’s plan to spin-off its Universal Music Group (UMG) before the end of the year – and to distribute 60 per cent of the new share capital to existing Vivendi shareholders – their overall view is that Vivendi’s current share price is “fully valued”.

“Even adopting an optimistic view on UMG’s growth/margin prospects, we argue that UMG fair value is ~€32 billion, modestly above the €30 billion minimum set by Vivendi’s Board,” says Jefferies.

There are elements which might somewhat change this view. For example, Le Monde (on February 10th) suggested Lagardère’s Europe 1 radio station is for sale with Vivendi potentially interested. BFM (on February 12th) also suggested Vivendi interest in the M6 channel. Recently Vivendi acquired Prisma Media (~€200 million), a French publisher, and a 9.9 per cent stake in PRISA (~€70 million), a Spanish media conglomerate, adds the bank’s note.

Vivendi’s interest in Canal+ could also benefit from the French football Ligue 1 rights turmoil.

“Having held out from the recent re-auction of domestic football rights for 2021/22, Canal+ was awarded the 8 weekly Ligue 1 games vacated by Mediapro for just €35 million. Canal+ looks well-placed to secure post-2021/22 rights when they are re-auctioned in the next few months. There is no evidence of serious competing bid interest. Sub-licensing deals with BeIN Sport diffuse competitive tension on that front,” adds Jefferies.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Virgin Galactic in stock split
2. Thuraya-3 suffers major problem
3. AST SpaceMobile hit by Class Action
4. Optimism under threat at SES
5. Rivada visits Terran Orbital’s manufacturing HQ
6. Avanti wins spectrum debt obligation case
7. SpaceX breaks records for re-use launchers
8. IRIS2 already in trouble?
9. Intelsat contemplates next steps

Categories: Blogs, Business, Inside Satellite

Tags: Canal+, ligue 1, Universal, Vivendi