French media and telecommunications giant Vivendi Universal, will this week assess the bids received for its US entertainment assets, according to a report in today’s Financial Times.
The Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE) division comprises a music company, film studios, theme parks and cable channels. It has received interest from the likes of Liberty Media, General Electrics and Edgar Bronfman Junior, whose family sold the businesses to Vivendi in the first instance in 2000 (see
Bronfman Joins Race For Vivendi’s Universal Assets).
The FT reports that the bids are expected to value VUE at around $12 billion (€10.4 billion). The financial details of the proposals are understood to be arriving at Vivendi today and a preferred suitor has not yet been chosen.
The VUE sale is part of a wide-reaching carve-up of Vivendi Universal’s operations, instigated after the group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy following a costly acquisition policy pursued by former chief executive, Jean Marie Messier (see Party Is Over For Vivendi). Messier’s successor, Jean-René Fourtou said that asset disposals were the only viable option to the company’s financial problems.
Vivendi recently reported a reduction in its first quarter losses, saying that it is now on course to hit year-end targets (see The Tide Turns At Vivendi).
