French media giant Vivendi Universal has agreed to sell its 50%
holding in Vizzavi, the two-year old joint venture mobile phone
content business. German rival Bertlesmann AG is hoping to sell its
on-line book and music selling business, bol.com, to Amazon.com,
according to the Wall Street Journal.
Vizzavi
Vodafone, Vivendi’s joint venture partner, agreed to pay €142.7
million for the loss-making Vizzavi service. The company said in a
statement on Friday:
“Vizzavi has built up considerable
experience in the provision of mobile content and information
services. It has also established a unique portfolio of content
partnerships. These assets will form an integral part of Vodafone's
strategy in providing differentiated services to its customers and
are of particular importance to the launch of Vodafone Live!, the
new consumer service, later this year.”
Vizzavi France is the one part of the Vizzavi Group is not
included in the deal. It is now wholly owned by Vivendi.
Bol.com
According to the Wall Street Journal, there has been no official
statement from Bertlesmann AG, but it quotes “people familiar with
the situation” as saying that bol.com is to be sold. The unnamed
sources claim that preliminary talks have been held with
Amazon.com. The sources also claim that Bertlesmann intends to sell
its 35.2% stake in US book seller Barnes&Noble.com.
Amazon.com is the only bigger on-line book seller than bol.com.
FT.com reports that bankers have valued bol.com at €2.1 billion. It
made revenues of €90 million last year but posted losses of €30
million.
