Vivendi has now been approached twice this year, notes Lex.
But the French media conglomerate is a challenging target. A break-up could jeopardise a tax regime put in place in 2004, which is worth about 3bn and an LBO would be a punt on complicated disposals. Finally management would struggle to accept a value below that implied by its own ambitious targets.
The fact that Vivendi trades well below that level, in spite of bid speculation, implies that the market is lukewarm about its conglomerate structure and strategy. But the agent of change looks most likely to come from within the company itself.