LONDON (Brand Republic) – Vivendi Universal, the French media and communications group formed out of the merger of Vivendi, Seagram and Canal+, is planning to withdraw from the board of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
The decision comes as Vivendi begins negotiations to sell its 22.7% stake in BSkyB -- one of the conditions imposed upon the French company by EU regulators when its merger was cleared in December.
Vivendi chairman Jean Marie Messier is said to be keen to swap the BSkyB stake in return for an alternative media asset or strategic stakes in other businesses.
Liberty chairman John Malone, already the second-largest shareholder in BSkyB-parent News Corporation, is being mooted as a potential buyer for the shareholding.
Liberty could offload its interest in USA Networks, a former Seagram business, in exchange for part of the BSkyB stake. Vivendi is understood to be interested in regaining an interest in the US company.