A few days after the announcement of an IPO of Warner Music, it is the turn of Universal Music to announce an upcoming opening of its capital to investors.
Vivendi, the parent company of the world music leader, has already sold 10% of the capital and an option on ten other percent to the Chinese Tencent and a consortium of investors. The French group could therefore still put just under 30% of the capital on the stock market by the start of 2023. A year ago, Vivendi had declared that it could sell up to half of the capital of 'Universal Music. This subsidiary was valued at 30 billion euros. The sale of 20% of the capital to Tencent, then the IPO, should allow Universal to collect nearly 15 billion euros. A sum that will allow the French group to make major new acquisitions and further amplify its vast share buyback program.
Dynamism
Like the other two music majors, Universal is currently buoyed by the explosion of the music streaming market. In 2019, this subsidiary recorded 15.6% growth in turnover, to 7.15 billion euros. Its operating profit did even better with a jump of 20%, to 1.1 billion euros.
The dynamism of Universal explains the increase in Vivendi's results: € 15.9 billion in turnover, up 5.6% at constant scope and 1.7 billion in current income (increase 11.7% at constant scope).
For its part, the Canal + group is just recovering. Turnover was stable and adjusted operating profit fell by 20% to less than 400 million euros. The encrypted channel is still losing individual subscribers in France, but it is continuing to grow internationally. In 2019, Vivendi widened the scope of its activities by acquiring the number two French publisher, Editis, which has been consolidated in Vivendi's accounts since February 2019.
