Vivendi buys €217m Dailymotion stake

Vivendi has acquired an 80% stake in French video site Dailymotion for €217 million (US$241 million).

Vivendi said that its acquisition of majority control of Dailymotion would enable the latter to accelerate its growth progamme and international expansion as well as giving it access to music and audiovisual content from Vivendi’s other subsidiaries, Universal Music and Canal+ Group.

This is a first step in our ambition to create a large, global group that is focused on media and content. In addition, this operation illustrates our capacity to develop international strategic partnerships, in particular with Orange,” said Vincent Bolloré, chairman of Vivendi’s supervisory board.

It said that the three units would together develop “original and distinctive content and formats meeting the expectations of a whole new generation of digital consumers”.

Vivendi originally announced it was in exclusive talks with Dailymotion owner Orange to acquire the stake in April.

Dailymotion has about 128 million unique visitors a month and has grown its revenue by about 30% a year since 2012, although it only represents about 1% of Orange’s total revenues.