Vivendi to sell $3B shares

January 7, 2002 Posted: 1158 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Vivendi Universal, Europe's biggest media company, said on Monday it will sell existing shares worth about 3.3 billion ($3 billion) to cut debt.

The French media giant has asked Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to sell 55 million shares with an offer price range of 60 to 61 a share, valuing the sale at 3.3 to 3.4 billion.

Vivendi plans to use the proceeds of the sale to reduce its debt accumulated from the acquisition of Canada's Seagram and Canal Plus, Europe's biggest pay-TV operator, for $46 billion in June 2000.

The company's stock, which has lost more than a third of its value over the last year, fell 4.2 percent to 59.90 in early Paris trading on Monday.

Vivendi, which has been transformed into a media company from a water utility under the chairmanship of Jean-Marie Messier, has been selling assets to strength its distribution channels in the United States.

The Paris-based company, which owns Universal Studios and Universal Music Group, as well as publishing and Internet interests, has announced plans to sell as stake worth $1.5 billion in British Sky Broadcasting (BSY), Europe's second-largest pay-TV company, and sold a 9.3 percent stake in Vivendi Environmental.

Last month, Vivendi agreed to buy the entertainment assets of USA Networks in a deal valued at $10.3 billion.