LONDON (Brand Republic) – French media group Vivendi could fold its 22.7% stake in BSkyB into News Corporation’s digital subsidiary Sky Global Networks if its merger agreement with European anti-trust authorities goes through. The agreement would see Vivendi divest its BSkyB holding in return for approval of its merger with Seagram.
Vivendi has been given a deadline of two years in which to relinquish the holding, worth around $6bn and believed to be the biggest single disposal forced on a company in return for regulatory clearance of a merger.
BSkyB, News Corp’s UK pay-TV unit, said it will discuss ways of ensuring an orderly disposal of the interest with the French company. However, BSkyB’s parent company News Corp is about to fold its satellite interests into Sky Global Networks, which is expected to float on the stock market by the end of 2000.
Vivendi will have to seek approval from the European Commission that a stake in Sky Global would satisfy conditions of the merger.
The divestment of Vivendi’s stake is required by the EU’s competition commission because its pay-TV division, the France-based Canal+, has such a strong position in a number of markets within the EU.
Meanwhile, BSkyB has appointed Richard Freudenstein to the position of chief operating officer. He joined BSkyB last November as general manager from Foxtel, the Australian TV services.