Vivendi Said to Discuss Activision Unit Sale on June 22

Bloomberg

Vivendi Said to Discuss Activision Unit Sale on June 22
By Marie Mawad, Jacqueline Simmons and Matthew Campbell

Vivendi SA (VIV) is set to decide on the future of its video-game unit Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) at a senior executive meeting this month as it considers options for a reorganization, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The main scenario to be discussed is a sale of part or all of Vivendi’s 61 percent stake in Activision, the maker of “Call of Duty” with a market value of about $13 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting is private. Vivendi has met with investors in the past weeks to discuss options, one of them being a spinoff of pay-TV unit Canal Plus, which is 20 percent owned by Lagardere SCA (MMB), said one person.

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Vivendi Considers Sale of Activision Stake (0:45) 1 day ago

Vivendi jumped as much as 5.3 percent in Paris and Activision fell as much as 6.2 percent in New York. A sale of Activision would be an attempt by Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou to unlock value from assetshe has said are at a discount because of the holding structure at Vivendi, which also ownsUniversal Music Group and phone operators in France, Morocco and Brazil. Fourtou will lead the weekend retreat in Corsica, which starts June 22 and wil