Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Mediaset, Vivendi is at 25,7% – Il Sole 24 Ore

the birth of The Square Business is under the tree Mediaset: the Bag smells of climbs, of battles like you have never seen a time at the sound of a Takeover and counter-Takeover bid. Silvio Berlusconi was put on the corner by Vincent Bolloré, the French financier more and more master of Italy (Mediobanca, and then General, up to Telecom Italia), which yesterday he rounded again, she bought another 5.7% and now Vivendi is to 25,7% of the main commercial television in Italian (and 26.7% of the voting rights).

Continue the escalation of the French. The strategy of tension: the incessant dripping of purchases puts more and more pressure to the Berlusconi family and the tightening of the siege, the former premier, who never would have imagined an assault on the heart of his empire. He has tranquility: “Want that at my age there is something that I still worry?” he said yesterday while he was at the Quirinale. And now he is forced to set up a hasty barricade in defence of his creature. Music to the ears of the Piazza Affari for a flight of 23,33%, another record after the jump of 30% of 10 days ago, the giant on Italian tv, he has risen above the threshold of € 4 per share (4,44% for accuracy), a level not seen since November 2015: a year ago.



Leap in the Stock exchange of 100% in fourteen sessions

But at the same time that speculation, you bet on a climb, the speculation itself belies this scenario. After the sprint yesterday, the price for a take over, has become too high: at the end of November for Mediaset capitalizzava just over 2 billion; at the close of yesterday evening, the value had risen to 5 billion. Yesterday, however, to buy it was the same Vivendi that in the last 10 days has made a real raid on the company. Appeared on the scene at the beginning of December, the giant French media has built in a little over a week a position of strength: it holds 25% and want to climb to 30%, a breath away from the threshold of the Opa.

once Again, the exchanges were impressive: it passed from hand to hand to 10.2% of the share capital. the other 10% was passed from hand to hand last week, when Vivendi had snuck in the share capital of Alfa. Traders suspect that Bollorè has already in your pocket 30%, considering the modus operandi of the French: every ad has been followed by the purchase of shares. And wonder if the financier breton at the end will launch a Takeover bid on the entire share capital. The rest, as pointed out in recent days, the ceo of Vivendi Arnaud de Puyfontaine, the French group has the means (2 billion of liquidity) to launch the final attack to Mediaset. Also without a tender offer, Bollorè in any case, would hold a blocking minority, the ability to freeze Berlusconi, on any extraordinary transaction, of the Serpent.



Mediaset is now asking the intervention of the Agcom

For now, the counters of Berlusconi are limited: safe Fininvest, that controls all of the empire, has their hands tied and can’t lock Mediaset, buying stocks, having reached 38.3% of the capital, can not round off your share without risking, also, the obligation to launch a Takeover bid.
Stuck on the front of the capital, the group he’s triggering all the counter-attacks possible on the front of the law: after the parent company Fininvest has filed a criminal complaint to the public Prosecutor of Milan and another to Consob, to request the freezing of voting rights, yesterday it was the turn of Mediaset. PierSilvio Berlusconi has made a complaint to the Nra informing the Authorities, “the illegality of the conduct of Vivendi, in violation of the regulations of the sector and, in particular, of article 43, paragraph 11, of the Tusmar”. The French are the reference shareholder of Telecom Italia and, with 25% of Mediaset, which may constitute an o bstacle. Not only that: it would be a “violation of the Gasparri law, in the way of the cross-connect Telecom” .



Save liberalism from liberal (ideological)

With the hostile attack of Vivendi unleashed on Mediaset by Vivendi, the manager of the Italian group also complain about that “you configure a risk of paralysis of the activities of the industrial development Mediaset”. This would be the effect of cross-holding of Vivendi in Telecom and Mediaset, above the 10%. The package purchased from Bollorè is beyond the agreements made between the italians and the French, last spring, when Bollorè and Berlusconi would have celebrated the wedding between the shaky pay-tv Mediaset Premium, and the equally shaky Tele+. But that deal fell through, and in any case not allowed the French to buy.



The strategy of the Bolloré to deal with Berlusconi

Learn more

Mediaset “disputes the misleading representation of Vivendi according to which the contract of April 8, provides for the purchase by Vivendi of a participation in the share capital of Mediaset. The contract, in reality, involves not only an exchange agreed upon, balanced, and equal to the equity interests of the narrow minority (3.5% of Mediaset, Vivendi, and vice versa), the exchange functional only to the implementation of the industrial partnership established in the contract”. At this point, however, the strategy in the litigation is bound to change: Mediaset do not ask more than the contract to the French, but would go immediately to the claim for damages quantified at 1.5 billion.



Bolloré goes up to 30% of Mediaset: it’s climbing the empire Berlusconi

About the contention of the market instead of the ace in the sleeve of the italians could be the float: after the thrust of Vivendi, shall remain in Bag for approximately 35%, which is a package that will be decisive in the battle. “Many of our members want to defend the principle of “italianness” of the first group of communications, Italian: for this reason they are quite clear” he annotated Berlusconi.

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