Vivendi announced recently the increase of its share in the capital equity of the French experts in video games Ubisoft and Gameloft to the 10.39% and 10.20% respectively.
But those are not the only announcements on purchases made by The French multinational. The company informed today that it increased its 19.9% participation in Telecom Italia to the 20.03% from the 19,9% it already got through purchase of shares in the market on 6th October.
Vivendi invested over €3.054 Bn to reach the 19,9% participation in Telecom Italia.
The Fench multinational became the Italian telecoms operator’s largest shareholder on June 24th, 2015 holding a 14.9% of its ordinary shares.
The French Group also told about the launch of CanalOlympia in Africa in September this year.
Becoming a powerful stakeholder in Southern Europe telecoms market
On 29th April 2015 Vivendi announced that it entered an agreement with Telefonica to exchange 58.4 million of its Telefonica Brasil preferred shares (representing 3.5% of its share capital) for 46.0 million ordinary shares of Telefonica, representing 0.95% of the Spanish telecoms operator’s share capital.
This agreement followed that of the sale of GVT on May 28, 2015, and the exchange of Telefonica Brasil shares for ordinary shares of Telecom Italia.
The increase of Vivendi’s interest in Telecom Italia and in Telefónica shows the French Group’s intention to become more active in Europe and to pursue strategic partnerships this region.
Two purchases, strategical for Vivendi’s content business
On October 20th, 2015, Vivendi held 11.60 million Ubisoft shares and 8.68 million Gameloft shares. These titles were acquired on the market for a total amount of respectively €244 million and €34.41 million and financed through the Group’s disposable cash.
The French multinational points that both investments are framed into the strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi’s content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other. Vivendi underscores, as well that it reserves itself the right to increase its stake in these two companies depending on market conditions and the possibility, in due time, to be represented on their board.
On 14th October 2015 Vivendi unveiled it had first became a shareholder of both internationally reputed French video games producers taking equity stakes of 6.6% and 6.2% respectively in Ubisoft and Gameloft. The purchase of titles was also made in the market ad meant the purchase of 7.36 million Ubisoft shares for €140.3 million and 5.24 million Gameloft shares for €19.7 million.
Growing the entertainment business in Africa, also key for the content business
Vivendi announced on 28th September this year plans to open ten live-performance venues in Central and West Africa under the name CanalOlympia in the coming months.
The foundation stone of the first CanalOlympia, in Conakry (Guinea) was laid on September 27th in presence of Alpha Condé, President of Guinea.
The venue will open its doors mid-2016 with a capacity of more than 400 people. In addition, the stage can be reconfigured for open-air events that can accommodate more than 3,000 fans. This indoor/outdoor approach will be applied to all CanalOlympia venues.
The CanalOlympia halls will offer local artists a chance to perform and will create a network of venues where tours can be organized in particular at the initiative of Island Africa, the Universal Music Group label. The halls will also be fitted with a recording studio and a rehearsal room to help identify talent, support new artists and provide international exposure, whether musicians, singers or comedians.
The presence of Vivendi through the Olympia venues in Africa adds to that built for decades by Canal+ in this continent. Canal + is well-known in Africa, with a presence in some 20 countries across the continent.
The launch of CanalOlympia is framed into Vivendi’s strategy to reinforce the Group’s presence in high-growth markets, where an emerging middle class is consuming more content. Vivendi also intends to be a leading player in identifying new entertainment talent, which is vital to an international media and content group.
The first CanalOlympia halls will be located in Conakry in Guinea, Cotonou in Benin, Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Dakar in Senegal. Suitable locations are being identified with the launch of tender processes beginning for the project.
Integrated media and content multinational group
Vivendi is an integrated media and content group. The company operates businesses throughout the media value chain, from talent discovery to the creation, production and distribution of content.
The main subsidiaries of Vivendi comprise Canal+ Group and Universal Music Group. Canal+ is the leading pay-TV operator in France, and also serves markets in Africa, Poland and Vietnam. Canal+ operations include Studiocanal, a leading European player in production, sales and distribution of film and TV series.
Also belonging to Vvendi, Universal Music Group is the world leader in recorded music, music publishing and merchandising, with more than 50 labels covering all genres.
A separate division of the Group, Vivendi Village, brings together Vivendi Ticketing (ticketing in the UK and France), MyBestPro (experts counseling), Watchever (subscription video-on-demand) and the Paris-based concert venue L’Olympia.
With over 3Bn videos seen per month, Dailymotion is one of the biggest aggregation and distribution platforms in the world.
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