Vivendi will take control of Polish telecoms firm Elektrim Telekomunikacja.
France’s Vivendi Universal has said it will pay Polish group Elektrim E489 million to transfer its fixed-line and Internet operations to their joint venture firm, Elektrim Telekomunikacja. It will also pay E100 million for an extra 2% of the joint venture, giving it a controlling stake, and for an extra 1% of yet another joint venture company, Carcom, again gaining control. Since ET and Carcom together own 51% of leading Polish mobile operator PTC, Vivendi will also gain control there.
The deal is the end of the fight between Vivendi and PTC’s 49% shareholder Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom has said it will remain involved in PTC, but it’s hard to see room for both firms – similar joint ventures such as Belgium’s KPN Orange have collapsed as companies focus on assets they can exploit fully. It’s therefore possible that Deutsche Telekom will sell up.
However, PTC doesn’t fit too well with Vivendi’s largest new media investment. mPortal Vizzavi is a joint venture with Vodafone, and the partners plan to spend E800 million each on building it. Since Vivendi and Vodafone’s mobile operations don’t compete in any major geographies, the synergies in Vizzavi should be high. Yet Vodafone is the largest foreign shareholder in a rival Polish operator, Plus GSM. This could prove awkward.
The European mobile industry is expected to consolidate into four or five major players as 3G costs start to bite. And while Vivendi won’t run into the financial troubles of other operators, it will still be at a disadvantage compared to truly global operators – particularly if the Vodafone alliance turns sour. So Vivendi needs to keep Vodafone on side. The PTC move could cause serious friction between the two players.
There is a possible explanation, however. Elektrim Telekomunikacja is a major cable TV and fixed-line telecoms operator – excellent for delivering Universal’s content – while PTC is much stronger in the mobile market than Plus GSM. Maybe the mobile operation wasn’t Vivendi’s main motivation – and maybe Vodafone will switch its allegiances in Poland.
