Vivendi: Oddo still a buyer

(CercleFinance.com) - Oddo maintains its "outperform" rating on Vivendi shares, with a target price of 34 euros.


According to the broker, Friday's announcement by the Canal+ Group that it will no longer broadcast the French national football league from next season (following the decision by the French professional football league (LFP) to sell the rights to eight matches per day to Amazon) is "probably tactical".

It could indeed be a question of pushing the LFP to proceed with a new call for tenders. Another possibility is to initiate a series of legal proceedings aimed at rendering the award null and void.

Citing the press, Oddo reports that the Canal+ Group and beIN Sport could join forces in these latest proceedings. Indeed, Canal+ Group holds the rights to two matches per day until 2024 after a sub-licence agreement with beIN Sport.

The main risk analysts identify is that the LFP will reallocate these rights, they add. While this would enable the Canal+ Group to bid for the rights, Amazon could also bid for the entire rights, thereby providing itself with very significant marketing leverage for its premium offering, the broker says.

At first glance, this scenario cannot be ruled out, although we do not think that it is the most likely. We can also mention DAZN or Discovery, which could consider making a bid. However, it is possible that all these groups will consider offers that are significantly lower than what Canal+ Group is currently paying, the analyst concludes.

Currently trading at 29 euros, the share is down about 0.3%, a mirror image of the slightly bullish CAC 40.


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