Vivendi in Deal for Banijay/Zodiak Stake

PARIS: Announcing its earnings for the first nine months of 2015, Vivendi said it had reached an agreement to take 26.2 percent of the combined Banijay/Zodiak group, with the deal set to close during the first half of next year.

The transaction involves a cash payment of 290 million euros ($311 million), including 100 million euros ($107 million) for the stake in the entity being formed from the combination of the Banijay Group and Zodiak Media. The remaining 190 million euros ($204 million) comes with Vivendi's subscription to two bonds being issued by Banijay Zodiak and Lov Banijay, redeemable in shares or cash. Both bonds mature in seven years.

"Vivendi plans to invest in one of the most successful creators of scripted and non-scripted programs for television and multimedia platforms," the company said. "The combined company will own a powerful portfolio of popular brands and formats in the fields of entertainment, drama, factual, reality entertainment, docu-dramas, as well as children’s and animation programs. It will also bring together a formidable community of innovative creative talent who are developing the next generation of quality entertainment programs."

For the first nine months, Vivendi reported a 7 percent gain in revenues to 7.6 billion euros ($8.2 billion), with adjusted net income rising 13.4 percent to 501 million euros ($538 million). CANAL+ Group's revenues rose slightly to 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion). The division reported a total of 15.4 million subscribers, a gain of 619,000 on the year-ago period. Increases came from its African and Vietnam businesses, and the Canalplay streaming platform, but subscriptions dipped in its pay-TV operations in France. Pay-TV revenues in France fell by 1.9 percent, while international revenues rose by 7.6 percent. Ad revenues from free-to-air channels were up 5 percent. STUDIOCANAL's revenues rose by 12.9 percent.

"In its ambition to build an international media and content production and distribution group, Vivendi anticipates that the next two years (2016 and 2017) will be a period of potentially heavy investments, during which priority will be given to the long-term development of the Group with a strict cost-management policy," the company said of its financial outlook.