Troubled entertainments giant Vivendi Universal is dumping the loss-making overseas operations of its Canal Plus pay TV company as it works on managing the financial crisis it fell into after reports of false accounting earlier this year. The sale will include Canal Plus’ operations in Italy, Spain and Poland. The French wing, and profitable bit, of Canal Plus will then be grouped with some remaining spin-off channels (like documentary station Planete, youth channel Canal Jimmy and movie service Cineclassics) into a new company 49% owned by Vivendi. Further cash could be raised by floating the remaining 51% stake on the stock market, though the appetite for media shares remains weak due to the poor performance of the likes of Vivendi. There is still now word on how restructuring work will effect Vivendi’s music operations – Polydor, Mercury and Island in the UK.
Jul 24, 2002
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1 min read
Vivendi dump Canal Plus channels
Vivendi Universal is selling loss-making overseas Canal Plus operations in Italy, Spain and Poland as it manages a financial crisis after false accounting reports.