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Bankers in line for telecom and media fees windfall

Fri, 26th Jul 2013 16:20

By Anjuli Davies

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Bankers working on the sale ofthe bulk of Vivendi's stake in Activision Blizzard Inc to the video games maker and its management could earnadvisory fees of up to $80 million, according to an industryestimate.

France's Vivendi announced the $8.2 billion sale onFriday, its second blockbuster deal in a week.

Bankers in the telecoms, media and technology sector areexpecting fees from a flurry of deals, unlike their peers inother sectors where activity is subdued.

On Tuesday, Vivendi said it was in exclusive talks to sellits controlling stake in Maroc Telecom for 4.2 billioneuros ($5.6 billion) to Etisalat. Dutch telecoms groupKPN announced the sale of its German business E-Plusfor 8.1 billion euros to Spain's Telefonica on the sameday.

In the media and entertainment sector, global deal activityis up 32 percent with 1,380 transactions worth $84 billion sofar this year, Thomson Reuters data at July 25 showed.

Activity in the telecommunications sector is up 36 percent,with 358 deals worth $60.9 billion.

But M&A activity overall is down 12 percent, with 19,388deals worth $1,170 billion.

This has resulted in a 16 percent drop in fees in the firsthalf of the year.

Vivendi hired Barclays and Goldman Sachs toadvise it on the Activision deal and those banks couldpotentially share a fee pot of $35 million to $45 million, Freeman Consulting, which tracks bankers' fees, estimated.

Activision hired JPMorgan, which is set to receive$25 million to $35 million. Centerview advised Activision'sindependent directors.

On the sale of its stake in Maroc Telecom, Vivendi is beingadvised by Credit Agricole and Lazard andEtisalat by BNP Paribas and Attijariwafabank.

Banks working on the Sale of KPN's German business toTelefonica were looking at a fee pot of up to $75 million,Freeman estimated.

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