Sorry, wrong numbers: VU rejects Vodafone’s bid
October 30, 2002 The Hollywood Reporter
PARIS— Vivendi Universal’s board of directors voted late Tuesday to reject a €6.77 billion ($6.65 billion) offer by British telcom firm Vodafone for its 44% share in French telcom giant Cegetel, the conglomerate said.
With the move, Vivendi Uni leaves open all of its options on Cegetel. Vodafone could come back with a higher bid, or Vivendi Uni could counter Vodafone’s bid for British Telecom’s 26% share or SBC Communication’s 15% stake in Cegetel. In a Monday court decision, Vivendi Uni won an extra month — until Dec. 10 — to decide on a potential counterbid (HR 10/29).
Vodafone executives have said in recent weeks that they wouldn’t raise their price for Vivendi Uni’s stake in Cegetel. Representatives for the company couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
Meanwhile, sources close to the situation said late Tuesday that Vivendi Uni might announce as early as today the sale of its U.S. educational publishing unit, Houghton Mifflin. A consortium led by the Blackstone Group, a U.S. private equity firm, appeared to have come close to reaching a deal and was working on last-minute details, one source said.
A Vivendi Uni spokeswoman and Blackstone spokesman, both in New York, declined comment.
The consortium led by Blackstone includes other private equity groups, such as Apax Partners and Thomas H. Lee.
Meanwhile, according to a Tuesday news report in Paris, Vivendi Uni has rekindled talks to sell French pay channel Canal Plus to a group headed by the owners of French network TF1 and media group Pathe, along with a Belgian investor.
French daily Le Monde said that a group including Jerome Seydoux from Pathe, Patrick Le Lay from TF1 and Belgian investor Albert Frere is involved in the negotiations.
The news came as Canal Plus was reported to be facing fierce competition for its French soccer broadcast rights. TF1 and French channel M6 are said to be looking to bid on the 2004-07 rights and would provide viewers with free access to the matches.
Canal Plus and rival DTS platform TPS — owned by TF1 and M6 — pay €380 million ($374 million) a year as part the deal that gave it the soccer broadcast rights from 2000 until June 2004.
A source close to Vivendi Uni called the bids for both Canal Plus and its broadcasting rights “manipulation designed to discredit the companies before the bidding process for the soccer matches begins.”
TF1, M6 and Canal Plus declined comment.
Vivendi Uni shares rose 6.4% to €13.40 ($13.17) in Paris trading Tuesday. In New York, American depository shares of Vivendi Uni closed up 4% at 12.99.
Georg Szalai in New York contributed to this report.