Vivendi Plans to Sell at Least EU10 Billion of Assets (Update3)
By Daniel Tilles
Paris, Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Vivendi Universal SA, the world's second-biggest media company, said it plans to sell at least 10 billion euros ($9.9 billion) of assets, including the U.S. publisher Houghton Mifflin Co., as it seeks to trim debt.
The company intends to shed businesses worth 5 billion euros in the next nine months, Vivendi said in a faxed statement. Vivendi bought Houghton Mifflin, a Boston-based textbook publisher, for $2.2 billion last year.
Vivendi Chief Executive Officer Jean-Rene Fourtou, who replaced Jean-Marie Messier last month, is trying to restore investor confidence and cut the French company's 17 billion euros of debt. Messier's $77 billion of takeovers, including Seagram Co., led to the biggest loss in French history last year and left Vivendi short of cash. The stock has dropped 75 percent this year.
``This should reassure the market,'' said Jacques-Antoine Bretteil, who helps manage $700 million, including Vivendi shares, at International Capital Gestion. ``They had to turbo-boost asset sales to get some cash and balance the debt.''
Fourtou may write off billions of euros from the value of the company's businesses when Vivendi releases second-quarter results today, analysts said. Vivendi probably will say profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization at its media unit rose 13 percent to 1.48 billion euros, according to the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The company reported today that second-quarter sales, including those at its utility business, rose to 15.3 billion euros from 13.9 billion euros in the year-ago period.
`Easy to Sell'
Vivendi owns the world's top music company, the Hollywood studio that produced ``The Fast and the Furious,'' Europe's largest pay-TV company, publishing and Internet businesses and stakes in the world's biggest water utility and France's No. 2 phone company.
Putting Houghton Mifflin on the block ``is a good idea because it's easy to sell, will fetch a decent price and won't undermine the media strategy for the rest of the group,'' said Mehra Meh, an analyst at Williams de Broe with a ``hold'' rating on Vivendi.
Vivendi's board ``took note of progress'' made on a plan to set up a 3 billion-euro credit facility with the company's banking partners, the company said. Vivendi has said it expects to reach an agreement by the end of this month.
Fourtou secured a 1 billion-euro credit facility from seven lenders in July. Vivendi needs new financing to fund itself until the end of the year, analysts have said.
The company's lenders, led by Deutsche Bank AG, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas SA, hastened Messier's removal by refusing new loans until Vivendi presented a plan to repay debt, people familiar with the situation said last month.
füxlein
By Daniel Tilles
Paris, Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Vivendi Universal SA, the world's second-biggest media company, said it plans to sell at least 10 billion euros ($9.9 billion) of assets, including the U.S. publisher Houghton Mifflin Co., as it seeks to trim debt.
The company intends to shed businesses worth 5 billion euros in the next nine months, Vivendi said in a faxed statement. Vivendi bought Houghton Mifflin, a Boston-based textbook publisher, for $2.2 billion last year.
Vivendi Chief Executive Officer Jean-Rene Fourtou, who replaced Jean-Marie Messier last month, is trying to restore investor confidence and cut the French company's 17 billion euros of debt. Messier's $77 billion of takeovers, including Seagram Co., led to the biggest loss in French history last year and left Vivendi short of cash. The stock has dropped 75 percent this year.
``This should reassure the market,'' said Jacques-Antoine Bretteil, who helps manage $700 million, including Vivendi shares, at International Capital Gestion. ``They had to turbo-boost asset sales to get some cash and balance the debt.''
Fourtou may write off billions of euros from the value of the company's businesses when Vivendi releases second-quarter results today, analysts said. Vivendi probably will say profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization at its media unit rose 13 percent to 1.48 billion euros, according to the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The company reported today that second-quarter sales, including those at its utility business, rose to 15.3 billion euros from 13.9 billion euros in the year-ago period.
`Easy to Sell'
Vivendi owns the world's top music company, the Hollywood studio that produced ``The Fast and the Furious,'' Europe's largest pay-TV company, publishing and Internet businesses and stakes in the world's biggest water utility and France's No. 2 phone company.
Putting Houghton Mifflin on the block ``is a good idea because it's easy to sell, will fetch a decent price and won't undermine the media strategy for the rest of the group,'' said Mehra Meh, an analyst at Williams de Broe with a ``hold'' rating on Vivendi.
Vivendi's board ``took note of progress'' made on a plan to set up a 3 billion-euro credit facility with the company's banking partners, the company said. Vivendi has said it expects to reach an agreement by the end of this month.
Fourtou secured a 1 billion-euro credit facility from seven lenders in July. Vivendi needs new financing to fund itself until the end of the year, analysts have said.
The company's lenders, led by Deutsche Bank AG, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas SA, hastened Messier's removal by refusing new loans until Vivendi presented a plan to repay debt, people familiar with the situation said last month.
füxlein
