Canal+ Shares Plunge 13% in London Debut After Vivendi Spinoff
Canal+ Shares plunge Over 13% in London Debut
French broadcaster Canal+ saw its shares tumble over 13% following its highly anticipated debut on the London Stock Exchange Monday. The pay TV and production giant, known for its live sports coverage and the popular Paddington film franchise, opened trading at a significantly lower price than expected.
Shares were trading around 252 British pence ($3.19) at 9:13 a.m. London time, down 13.1% from the initial offering price.This comes after Vivendi, Canal+’s parent company, successfully spun off the media giant last week.The move to separate Canal+ from Vivendi was aimed at unlocking shareholder value, according to Maxime Saada, CEO of Canal+.
“Vivendi was suffering from a conglomerate discount,” Saada told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday. ”So when you looked at the value of Vivendi, it was less than 10 billion euros [$10.52 billion], and the estimate of the sum of the parts was much greater than that. So to unlock that value potential of each of these assets, hence the split.”
Saada also highlighted Canal+’s notable international growth, noting that two-thirds of its subscriber base now resides outside of France.
” [Canal+] used to be a very French-centric company, with approximately 9 million subscribers, and, in just 10 years, it has tripled its number of subscribers. Now two-thirds of our subscriber base is outside of France, in Africa, in Eastern Europe, in Asia, and, of course, in France,” he added.
The spin-off of Canal+ is part of a larger restructuring at Vivendi, which is also separating its Havas advertising and Louis Hachette Group publishing businesses.
“We are delighted with the very high adoption rate of our spin-off project,” Yannick Bolloré, chair of Vivendi’s board, said in a statement last week after the plan was approved with over 97% of shareholder votes in favor.
Meanwhile, Paris-listed shares of Vivendi surged 33.3% at 09:28 a.m.london time, indicating investor confidence in the restructuring plan.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Canal+ Shares Plummet Over 13% in London Debut
London: French broadcasting giant Canal+ saw investors flee in droves during its highly anticipated debut on teh London Stock Exchange, sending shares plummeting over 13%. Despite pre-debut hype surrounding the pay-TV and production company – known for live sports coverage and the beloved Paddington film franchise – Canal+ opened trading significantly below expectations.
As of 9:13 a.m. London time, shares were trading around 252 British pence ($3.19), a 13.1% drop from the initial offering price.
this follows Vivendi, Canal+’s parent company, successfully spinning off the media giant last week. Vivendi CEO Maxime Saada detailed the reasoning behind the split, stating, “Vivendi was suffering from a conglomerate discount…So to unlock that value potential of each of these assets, hence the split.”
Saada emphasized Canal+’s international growth,noting,” [Canal+] used to be a very French-centric company… and, in just 10 years, it has tripled its number of subscribers. Now two-thirds of our subscriber base is outside of France, in Africa, in Eastern Europe, in Asia, and, of course, in France.”
This spin-off is part of a larger restructuring strategy at Vivendi, wich is also separating its Havas advertising and Louis Hachette Group publishing businesses. Vivendi Chairman yannick Bolloré expressed jubilation over the spin-off approval, stating, “We are delighted with the very high adoption rate of our spin-off project.”
Meanwhile, contrasting Canal+’s dismal performance, Paris-listed shares of Vivendi surged 33.3% at 09:28 a.m. London time, signaling investor optimism towards Vivendi’s restructuring plan.