Paddington producer hopes for tasty results with listing on LSE

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Canal+, owned by French media company Vivendi, is reportedly targeting a London Stock Exchange (LSE) valuation of up to £6.7 billion (€8.04 billion).

If so, this could be one of the biggest listings of 2024 and go a long way in reviving the LSE’s recent fortunes.

According to a report in The Telegraph, the company is likely to be listed on the FTSE 100, with the listing likely to be completed by mid-December this year. This step has been taken due to the corporate restructuring that Vivendi is currently undergoing.

Vivendi said in a press release on July 29 this year: “As regards Canal+, the ongoing demerger project would result in the admission on the London Stock Exchange of the shares of a French holding company, which would be called Canal+ and would control 100 shares. % of company licensed to provide terrestrial television services.

“This holding company would therefore replace Vivendi as the parent company of the Canal+ group.”

The shares in the new holding company will be automatically traded and issued to current Vivendi shareholders once the listing is completed, without raising any new capital or attracting new investors.

Canal+ is a pay TV channel that offers a range of channels and content such as series, documentaries, films, sports and other entertainment. With a Canal+ subscription, users can also enjoy other streaming platforms such as Disney, Netflix and Apple TV.

The company currently has operations in more than 50 countries, including Haiti, Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria, Cape Verde and many more. It also has a number of subsidiaries, such as Canal+ International, a pay-TV group.

It also owns StudioCanal, which produced films like Paddington, The Secret Garden, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and more. Other subsidiaries include Canal+ Régie, Canal+ Events, i>Télé, Canal+Cyfrowy and Vietnam Television.

Vivendi’s ongoing restructuring has also meant that some of its other assets will be transferred to Canal+.

Vivendi said in a recent press release: “Canal+ will consolidate together with its current operations GVA, which provides telecommunications services in Africa, including high-speed internet access marketed under the Canalbox brand; the video streaming platform Dailymotion; the L’Olympia and the L’ concert halls Œuvre Theater in France, as well as the CanalOlympia cinemas in Africa.

“In this new configuration, Canal+ Group will represent a unique international media operation with exposure to both mature and fast-growing markets.”

A listing on Canal+ could go a long way to revitalizing the London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange has seen a sharp decline in new listings in recent years, with a number of companies choosing to list in the US instead. This is mainly due to the wider range of investors, deeper capital pool and more hospitable regulations, especially for technology and oil and gas companies.

While some companies, such as Applied Nutrition and Raspberry Pi, still choose to go public in London, the stock exchange as a whole is struggling to attract new investors or retain existing ones.

As such, Canal+’s choice to list on the LSE is expected to go a long way in boosting investor confidence and hopefully encourage other companies to do the same.

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Vivendi also recently announced that it plans to list Havas, its Amsterdam advertising subsidiary, on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

A proposal regarding the move is expected to be submitted to shareholders for approval in December this year.