Vivendi has acquired an 80% stake in Dailymotion from Orange for €217 million.
In a statement, Vivendi says that integration within it will offer Dailymotion the means to strongly accelerate its growth and continue its international expansion. It will give the company access to particularly attractive music and audiovisual content and allow for the joint development, together with the Universal Media Group and Canal+ Group teams, of original and distinctive content and formats meeting the expectations of a whole generation of digital consumers.
It adds that the acquisition of Dailymotion is at the heart of Vivendi’s digital strategy. With Dailymotion, it will benefit from an OTT distribution platform of international stature and of a technological expertise that complements the Group’s existing one
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As previously reported in Broadband TV News, Dailymotion was attracting the interest of PCCW, which was hoping to buy a 49% stake in the company, up until the beginning of April.
However, the Hong Kong-based group decided to withdraw from negotiations, claiming that there was resistance to sell to a non-French or European company.
Earlier still, interest in buying Dailymotion, which is seen as YouTube’s main competitor, was also shown by Yahoo.
Under the terms of the sale to Vivendi, Orange will retain a 20% stake in Dailymotion.
