Bankers in line for media fees windfall

Bankers working on the sale of the bulk of Vivendi’s stake in Activision Blizzard Inc. to the video games maker and its management could earn advisory fees of up to $80 million, according to an industry estimate.

France’s Vivendi announced the $8.2 billion sale on Friday, its second blockbuster deal in a week.

Bankers in the telecoms, media and technology sector are expecting fees from a flurry of deals, unlike their peers in other sectors where activity is subdued.

On Tuesday, Vivendi said it was in exclusive talks to sell its controlling stake in Maroc Telecom for $5.6bn to Etisalat.

And Dutch telecoms group KPN announced the sale of its German business E-Plus for $10.7bn to Spain’s Telefonica on the same day.

In the media and entertainment sector, global deal activity is up 32 percent with 1,380 transactions worth $84bn so far this year, Thomson Reuters data at July 25 showed.

Activity in the telecommunications sector is up 36 percent, with 358 deals worth $60.9bn.

But M&A activity overall is down 12 percent, with 19,388 deals worth $1,170bn.

This has resulted in a 16 percent drop in fees in the first half of the year.

Vivendi hired Barclays and Goldman Sachs to advise it on the Activision deal and those banks could potentially share a fee pot of $35m to $45m, Freeman Consulting, which tracks bankers’ fees, estimated.

Activision hired JPMorgan, which is set to receive $25m to $35m. Center view advised Activision’s independent directors.

On the sale of its stake in Maroc Telecom, Vivendi is being advised by Credit Agricole and Lazard and Etisalat by BNP Paribas and Attijariwafa bank.

Credit Agricole and Lazard will share between $27m and $35m for their work on the deal, while BNP Paribas is set to earn $20m to $30m.

Banks working on the Sale of KPN’s German business to Telefonica were looking at a fee pot of up to $75m, Freeman estimated.