XM no presta servicios a los residentes de Estados Unidos de América.

Vivendi only half-solves its valuation discount



<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>BREAKINGVIEWS-Vivendi only half-solves its valuation discount</title></head><body>

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Pierre Briancon

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) -Vivendi VIV.PA is calling international investors to the rescue. The 11-billion-euro French media conglomerate said on Monday that it would spin off and list its pay-TV arm Canal+ in London, and advertising group Havas in Amsterdam, as part of a broader split. It will help to reduce the conglomerate discount, but only for some of the bits.

Vivendi, 30%-owned by the family vehicle of billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is breaking into four parts: pay-TV business Canal+, ad arm Havas, a publishing and retail unit called Louis Hachette Group, and the current parent company, which will own investment stakes like 10% of Universal Music, a quarter of Telecom Italia and video game maker Gameloft. The company on Monday said it will list Canal+ in London to underline its international nature. Two-thirds of subscribers, and most of its growth prospects, are now outside France. The Havas Dutch listing will allow the Bollorés to keep extra voting rights.

The two internationally listed divisions could get a higher value than implied now within Vivendi, whose enterprise value is 13 billion euros. Canal+ alone, for example, may be worth around 5.5 billion euros – assuming that its revenue grows this year at the same pace as in the first quarter, and using the same sales to enterprise value multiple as Germany’s Prosiebensat 1 Media PSMGn.DE. Havas will book about 3 billion euros of revenue this year, analysts reckon, and would be worth around 2.6 billion euros, using the average multiple for the industry according to LSEG data. Both units will be spun off debt free.

Investors may still slap a discount for governance problems on the two units, since the Bollorés will keep calling the shots, but it should be smaller: Investors will hold them of their own volition, rather than having them lost in the bundle of businesses that currently comprises Vivendi.

The same isn’t true for the remaining Paris-listed bits. Louis Hachette Group will own various media and retail assets including Vivendi’s near-2-billion-euro stake in publicly traded Lagardere LAGA.PA. It will keep on its books Lagardere’s 2 billion euros of debt. That means the unit will have a listing within a listing, and assets spanning airport shops to publishing – hardly a recipe for a clean valuation multiple.

Vivendi itself, reduced to an investment company, looks even worse. It will keep the group’s net debt of about 2 billion euros, with the Telecom Italia and Universal stakes, worth more than 6 billion euros at current market prices, as well as Gameloft. It’s hard to see an argument for all those assets sitting under the roof – and hard to imagine investors valuing them at anything approaching face value.

Follow @pierrebri on X


CONTEXT NEWS

French media group Vivendi said on July 22 that it would seek a London listing for its pay-TV arm Canal+, while its Havas advertising business will be listed in Amsterdam under its breakup plans.

Vivendi will remain listed in Paris and become an investment holding company, managing notably a 10% stake in Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music label, which it also spun off three years ago. It will also include Gameloft, a video game maker, and the group’s stake in Telecom Italia.


Graphic: Vivendi total returns since Bolloré started buying shares https://reut.rs/4c1J98c


Editing by Liam Proud and Aditya Srivastav

</body></html>

Descargo de responsabilidades: Cada una de las entidades de XM Group proporciona un servicio de solo ejecución y acceso a nuestra plataforma de trading online, permitiendo a una persona ver o usar el contenido disponible en o a través del sitio web, sin intención de cambiarlo ni ampliarlo. Dicho acceso y uso están sujetos en todo momento a: (i) Términos y Condiciones; (ii) Advertencias de riesgo; y (iii) Descargo completo de responsabilidades. Por lo tanto, dicho contenido se proporciona exclusivamente como información general. En particular, por favor tenga en cuenta que, los contenidos de nuestra plataforma de trading online no son ni solicitud ni una oferta para entrar a realizar transacciones en los mercados financieros. Operar en cualquier mercado financiero implica un nivel de riesgo significativo para su capital.

Todo el material publicado en nuestra plataforma de trading online tiene únicamente fines educativos/informativos y no contiene –y no debe considerarse que contenga– asesoramiento ni recomendaciones financieras, tributarias o de inversión, ni un registro de nuestros precios de trading, ni una oferta ni solicitud de transacción con instrumentos financieros ni promociones financieras no solicitadas.

Cualquier contenido de terceros, así como el contenido preparado por XM, como por ejemplo opiniones, noticias, investigaciones, análisis, precios, otras informaciones o enlaces a sitios de terceros que figuran en este sitio web se proporcionan “tal cual”, como comentarios generales del mercado y no constituyen un asesoramiento en materia de inversión. En la medida en que cualquier contenido se interprete como investigación de inversión, usted debe tener en cuenta y aceptar que dicho contenido no fue concebido ni elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos legales diseñados para promover la independencia en materia de investigación de inversiones y, por tanto, se considera como una comunicación comercial en virtud de las leyes y regulaciones pertinentes. Por favor, asegúrese de haber leído y comprendido nuestro Aviso sobre investigación de inversión no independiente y advertencia de riesgo en relación con la información anterior, al que se puede acceder aquí.

Advertencia de riesgo: Su capital está en riesgo. Los productos apalancados pueden no ser adecuados para todos. Por favor, tenga en cuenta nuestra Declaración de riesgos.