Big hit for coffers Vincent Bolloré. Waiting for the duel at the Mediaset assembly on 10 January, the French tycoon sold 10% of music production company Universal to a consortium led by the Chinese giant Tencent. The operation went through on the basis of a particularly profitable valuation for Vivendi: ben 30 billion euros for 100% by Universal Music Group. According to analysts, this is a generous price, since it multiplies Universal Music's gross operating income (EBITDA) by 30.
"This transaction confirms the financial talent of Vincent Bolloré - says Jean-Baptiste Sergente, analyst at Mainfirst - In 2014, when the tycoon entered the capital of Vivendi, Universal Music was valued between 7 and 8 billion euros".
To pay will be a consortium that includes a number of global investors and is led by the Shenzhen group through its subsidiary Tencent Music Entertainment.
The agreement also provides that the Chinese will be able to purchase a minority stake in the UMG subsidiary active in the Asian country at a later date. The closing is expected by the end of the first half of this year.
Bolloré thus settles the accounts of the group and can devote himself to the Italian matches with greater serenity: the first in Telecom Italy, where for the moment the agreement between Vivendi, the first shareholder with 24% of the capital, and the American fund Elliott holds; the second, more complicated, in Mediaset.
According to the reported rumors from the French financial newspaper Les Echos, the French tycoon would be ready to sell at least 20% of the Alfa Romeo (in which he currently has a 29% stake), enduring a loss of 200 million, now expected for some time. The problem is that Fininvest will struggle to find a new buyer for this piece of capital, since the Berlusconi family could strengthen its control over the group thanks to the creation of the MFE holding in the Netherlands.
