Vivendi to Withdraw Seat on BSkyB Board

Vivendi Universal said Monday it was giving up its seat on BSkyB’s board as it holds talks with Liberty Media and others over the sale of its stake in the British satellite TV company.

Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean Marie Messier said the French group would place its 22.7% stake in BSkyB with a trustee, but insisted that such a move did not imply a deal was imminent, with talks still in early stages.

“If we are withdrawing our board seat and putting a trustee in, it doesn’t mean we have something imminent, it means we want to be free to take the right opportunity at the right time,” Messier told Reuters Television at the World Economic Forum.

The chairman suggested that Vivendi Universal would favor a share swap in any sale that would give the French group a strategic holding in another media company.

“We are going to favor any schemes that would end up with Vivendi Universal owning all-media assets instead of the passive minority stake in BSkyB,” Messier said.

“We have no limitation on the form, technique or scheme of this divestment. The only thing I can add is that we will use schemes that are not going to hurt BSkyB’s stock price.”

Messier noted he still has almost two years to complete a deal. Vivendi agreed last year to sell its BSkyB stake as a condition for approval of its merger with Seagram.

Among potential buyers for the stake, Messier said, Vivendi Universal has been in talks with U.S. cable TV tycoon John Malone, Liberty Media’s chairman.

A deal with Liberty Media would cement relations between Rupert Murdoch and Malone. Liberty Media has already agreed to take a 4.76% stake in Sky Global, Murdoch’s satellite-TV holding that controls a 37.5% stake in BSkyB.