Ron Burgundy Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 By Gwénaëlle Barzic and Leila Abboud PARIS (Reuters) - Billionaire Patrick Drahi is aiming to buy Vivendi's 20 percent stake in Numericable-SFR to strengthen his grip on France's No.2 telecoms group and prepare for a possible next round of industry consolidation. Drahi's holding company Altice and its subsidiary Numericable-SFR said on Wednesday they had offered Vivendi 3.9 billion euros ($4.5 billion), or 40 euros a share, for the media firm's stake. While that is well below Numericable-SFR's current share price of over 50 euros, it is above the level at which Vivendi sold SFR to Numericable in November, which analysts say equated to around 33.30 euros. A deal could allow Vivendi to boost a return of cash to shareholders or add to its warchest for acquisitions, while for Drahi it could clear the way for a long-mooted bid for smaller French rival Bouygues Telecom. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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