Vivendi In Talks With beIN Sports on Programming Deal
February 18 2016 - 2:10PM
Dow Jones News
PARIS—Vivendi SA said Thursday it planned to tie up with its
rival in a sport programming deal to try to stem losses at its
French pay-TV channel and announced a takeover offer for French
videogame company Gameloft SE.
Vivendi announced Canal Plus was in talks to become the
exclusive distributor of beIN Sports in France for five years. The
Qatari-owned sports channel entered the French market in 2012,
spending millions of euros on sports rights including the UEFA
Champions League and the soccer World Cup. BeIN Sports quickly
built a base of some 2.5 million subscribers, becoming a formidable
competitor to Canal Plus.
"We have one major challenge to address today: our pay TV
operations in France," said Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine on a
call with analysts. "There is an urgent need to stop losses and to
commit to a transformation plan."
Canal Plus, which accounts for almost half of the company's
sales, has struggled amid the economic downturn in France and
heightened competition from the likes of beIN Sports and Netflix in
recent years. Vivendi said Canal Plus had been losing money in
France for the past four years.
Vivendi's said its turnaround plan for Canal Plus France could
lead to a "significant decline" in 2016 operating results with the
aim of the unit breaking even in 2018.
On Thursday, Vivendi also launched a hostile takeover of
Gameloft at €6 a share ($6.67), valuing the French videogame
company at €513 million.
The French media conglomerate reported profit, excluding some
items, of €196 million for the fourth quarter, up 6% from a year
earlier. Analysts had predicted adjusted net income of €168
million.
Sales rose 5.9% to €3.1 billion for the same period.
Vivendi had a cash pile of €6.4 billion on Dec. 31, the company
said.
Write to Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 18, 2016 13:55 ET (18:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Vivendi (PK) (USOTC:VIVHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Vivendi (PK) (USOTC:VIVHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024
