Vivendi to float Canal Plus

NEWS The new management team at Vivendi Universal has confirmed plans to float the French assets of Canal Plus, its pay-TV unit, and sell-off the rest of it bit by bit. Following the bumpy departure of Jean-Marie Messier last month, new boss Jean-Rene Fourtou is making Canal Plus a priority, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. The move will undo Messier's integration of the unit and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The assets that will not be part of the new publicly traded company include subsidiaries in other European countries, such as Poland and Italy, and Canal Plus Technologies, which manufactures encrypted set-top boxes.