Hong Kong’s PCCW Group (電訊盈科) on Monday said it is ending its bid to take a 49 percent stake in Orange SA’s Dailymotion, citing the French government’s preference for a European partner for the French video-sharing platform.
“The desire of the French government to encourage the search for a European solution discourages participation of international companies,” PCCW said in a statement explaining its decision.
Orange has owned Dailymotion — a rival of YouTube — since 2012 and has been looking for a partner who would be able to fund its growth and ensure its development outside Europe.
Photo: AFP
France owns a 24.9 percent stake in Orange and French Minister of the Economy Emmanuel Macron asked the company not to enter into exclusive talks with Hong Kong-based IT company PCCW before talking to all interested parties, with the idea of finding a European solution.
Orange said it was “not in exclusive talks with anyone,” but added that it was not opposed to having “a strategic partner to support and accelerate the development of Dailymotion.”
PCCW is owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s (李嘉誠) son Richard Li (李澤楷).
Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (和記黃埔) bought British telecom giant O2 last month for US$15.2 billion, a move that expanded the tycoon’s holdings in the international telecoms industry.
A source with knowledge of the Dailymotion talks said that it was now left to French holding company Fimalac SA to make an offer for Dailymotion.
French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday that the French media group Vivendi SA has made an offer of 250 million euros (US$275 million) to buy out “almost all” of Dailymotion.
This offer negotiated by Orange’s executive board was to be presented and debated yesterday at a special board meeting, Le Monde added.
The German groups Axel Springer AG and Bertelsmann AG have also been mentioned.
This is not the first time the French government has been involved in talks over Dailymotion.
In 2013, France’s then-industrial renewal minister, Arnaud Montebourg, blocked a bid by Yahoo Inc of the US to acquire Dailymotion, then valued at US$300 million.
Dailymotion, a startup launched in 2005, receives 128 million unique visitors per month, most of them from Europe.
The site is available in 18 languages, with a strong presence in Turkey and Asia in particular.
It has yet make a profit and only 10 percent of its revenue comes from France.
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