Vivendi seeking to raise stake in telecom Italia to 20% for EUR 1bn
Vivendi, the listed French media group, is understood to be seeking to increase its shareholding in listed Italian group Telecom Italia from 15.5% to about 20%, French daily Les Echos reported. The report cited a person familiar with the matter as saying that the hike was “likely” to take place soon, adding that the French group was not planning to take over the Italian Telco.
According to the report, Vivendi has engaged talks with the Italian government in order facilitate the deal, which could amount to about EUR 1bn. A deal that could already have been signed but has yet to be declared to Italian market authority Consob, the report claimed.
The report cited an analyst at Natixis as claiming that Vivendi, via its Chairman Vincent Bollore, could also be keen to become a reference shareholder in listed Spanish telco Telefonica, and could go as far as supporting a merger between Telecom Italia and Telefonica; Vivendi currently owns about 1% of Telefonica, the report noted.
Les Echos