The head of Vivendi Universal unveiled a fresh strategy for the debt-ridden media group today, announcing plans to sell off €12 billion worth of assets and assuring investors the company was "leaving the crisis behind."
VU chairman Mr Jean-Rene Foutou, under market pressure to define a new course for the world's second largest media venture, said after a board meeting the sales would be carried out over the next 18 months.
"Vivendi Universal's aim is to streamline its consolidation scope. The new Vivendi Universal is an entertainment company focused on the creation of consumer content," the company said in a statement.
With the company groaning under a debt load of around €34 billion, Mr Fourtou had been widely predicted to take measures aimed at scaling back the scope of VU's activities to focus more closely on media and communication ventures.
Mr Fourtou was named in July to replace flamboyant French tycoon Mr Jean-Marie Messier, whose ambitious and costly acquisitions alarmed investors and sent VU's share price tumbing - down nearly 80 per cent since the start of the year.
VU shares jumped 8.5 per cent to €12.99 on the Paris Bourse immediately after Mr Fourtou's announcement, but slipped back to end 2 per cent higher at €12.21.
"The board has noted with satisfaction the decisive progress made during the past three months," Mr Fourtou said in a statement. "We are leaving the crisis behind us. The main sources of loss have been reduced, sold or halted, or are about to be."
He said that under the planned €12 billion asset sale, VU would get rid of its publishing unit Vivendi Universal Publishing.
AFP