Vivendi to de-list from U.S. exchange
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:20 AM ET Jan. 17, 2006
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Vivendi Universal, the slimmed-down French media and telecommunications giant, joined the growing ranks of European companies delisting from U.S. exchanges.
Vivendi Universal, the holder of about a fifth of NBC Universal and the owner of Canal Plus cable broadcasting company, the SFR mobile phone operator, and Universal Music, said it's going to de-list from the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the second quarter of 2006.
Holders of New York-listed shares will be able to exchange them for Paris-listed ones, Vivendi said.
The move reflects both the increased cost of a U.S. listing and also the increased willingness of U.S. investors to buy locally-listed shares. The majority of Vivendi shares held by U.S.-based investors are the shares listed in Paris, the company noted.
ADR volumes have accounted for less than 5% of overall volume during the last two years, the company noted.
Other European companies, such as mobile phone operator O2 and Hard Rock Café owner Rank Group, have given up their U.S. listing, as the Sarbanes-Oxley rules have made it more difficult and costly to comply with U.S. regulations.
Growing costs also have been an issue for U.S.-based companies. Georgia-Pacific for instance cited the benefits of not being a public company as one of the reasons it accepted the $21 billion takeover bid by privately held Koch Industries.
For Vivendi, the move is another step in its restructuring program since recovering from a debt burden of 35 billion euros, built up under the leadership of ex-CEO Jean Marie Messier.
ABN Amro on Tuesday upgraded shares of Vivendi to buy from hold, arguing that there remains room for significant potential earnings and valuation upgrades. Even without those upgrades, ABN Amro believes Vivendi's valuation is attractive.
Vivendi shares rose 0.2% in Paris, outperforming a declining CAC 40 index.
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