Vivendi

Vivendi’s strategy is to strengthen its leadership position in digital entertainment by producing and distributing content and services particularly in high-growth countries. Vivendi’s priority is to contribute to the development of each of its business units within their major segments and markets.

Vivendi relies on the strength of its engineers, creative staff and major brands. The Vivendi group’s business units all pertain to the digital and new technologies sector. They focus directly on end-consumers through strong brands, including Activision Blizzard, UMG, SFR, Maroc Telecom Group, GVT, and Canal+ Group, which offer subscription-based digital-quality creative content and telephony and high-speed Internet services. These common points all represent competitive advantages for Vivendi that allow it to develop strong skills, in particular in subscription management, branding, distribution platforms, creation and copyrights, through a productive exchange of know-how and by anticipating technological developments.

Vivendi relies on the success and soundness of its subscription-based economic model: the group’s expertise is strongly linked to the capture of subscribers, customer loyalty and the optimization of subscriber-related revenue. This model is a major strength because it provides a recurring and therefore predictable revenue stream. Combined with the close attention paid by the group to its customers, it allows its business units to create innovative new services in response to a growing demand for mobility and high-speed services.

Content digitization and the development of consumer communities combined with the growth in adoption of high-speed Internet services and technology, create major challenges and opportunities that Vivendi strives to anticipate in order to identify growth vectors, innovate continuously and invest wisely.

In 2009, Vivendi continued to pursue its policy of innovation. Examples include the launch of Vevo by UMG and a catch-up TV service by Canal+ Group, increasingly innovative accessories from Activision Blizzard to improve the game-playing experience, and the rollout of SFR’s new fiber-optic network.

Concomitantly, Vivendi pursued geographic expansion into high-growth markets. After bringing pay-TV to North Africa, Canal+ Group launched the first national pay-TV platform in Vietnam. Maroc Telecom Group expanded its network in Africa by taking over the incumbent operator in Mali. Finally, Vivendi entered into a major deal in Brazil by acquiring control over GVT, a fast-growing alternative telecommunications operator. Vivendi intends to assist GVT, as it did for Maroc Telecom Group, with its deployment into new areas and new services in a very promising market with a population of more than 190 million.

Vivendi continues to strengthen its existing assets. At year-end 2009, it acquired TF1’s minority interest in Canal+. In addition, in connection with the planned merger between NBC Universal and Comcast, Vivendi took the opportunity to enter into an agreement with General Electric enabling it to sell its 20% minority interest in NBC Universal, a non-strategic asset to the Group.