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Vivendi Universal gave a clear sign of its intention to fight for control of French telecoms group Cegetel yesterday (Thursday) when it launched a Eu770m-Eulbn mandatory convertible.
The offering will be priced today (Friday) by bookrunner Deutsche Bank and takes the battle for control of Cegetel to a new level.
The bond will provide Vivendi with a quarter of the financing it needs to pre-empt Vodafone's bid for the 26% of Cegetel owned by BT Group.
It is an audacious move by the debt laden French media group, which only a few months ago was fighting for survival.
Vivendi has been implementing a radical restructuring and asset disposal programme, but its move to take control of Cegetel gives a clear indication of how new chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou wants to position his company.
However, market cynics claimed yesterday that the fundraising was just a high profile ruse to flush out a better bid from Vodafone. "Vodafone has a history of being willing to pay up for acquisitions that are strategically important to it," said a London-based media analyst.
"Vivendi could be playing a dangerous game of attempting to up Vodafone's bid."
A Vivendi spokesperson denied such suspicions and was adamant that the move was not a bluff.
Vivendi said yesterday that the capital raised could either be used to finance its pre-emptive rights to BT's stake...