French media group Vivendi has completed the sale of 100% of its Brazilian telco unit Global Village Telecom (GVT) to Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, for an enterprise value of EUR7.5 billion (USD8.2 billion). The move will see Vivendi receive EUR4.2 billion before tax (estimated at EUR600 million) as well as a 12% stake in Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) – of which the operator will exchange 4.5% in return for Telefonica’s shares in Telecom Italia (TI); as such, in the ‘coming weeks’ Vivendi assumes control of an 8.3% stake in the Italian operator.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Brazil’s antimonopoly agency – the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) – approved the takeover on 24 March 2015. The GVT deal was first agreed in September 2014.