Vivendi CEO Articulates Brazil Draw

Brazilian telecom analysts may have been surprised by Vivendi’s offer for local operator GVT, but the French conglomerate’s CEO Jean-Bernard Levy says his bid makes perfect sense. Besides the fact Brazil is “one of, if not the most attractive emerging market,” it also lacks infrastructure for high speed internet and digital content, says Levy, speaking on a Wednesday call about his Brazil overture. He adds Brazil also has no triple play offerings that bundle broadband, cable television and telephone services, a product Vivendi specializes in back home. As for GVT, Levy describes it as the country’s fastest growing telecom provider. Telecom analyst Luciana Leocadio of Ativa Corretores agrees, saying that while larger and more established players such as Telefonica see average annual revenue growth of 4% or 5%, GVT’s revenue grows an average of 20% or 30% a year. GVT claims it has 4% of the Brazilian telecom market, while Telefonica says its share is 31%.