Vector wins Technicolor battle

Greg Gille
@unquotenews
21 June 2012

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US private equity house Vector Capital has seen its offer for a minority stake in troubled French digital video specialist Technicolor accepted by the company's shareholder - pipping JP Morgan to the post.

Technicolor will issue 47,471,506 shares through a reserved capital increase to an investment vehicle controlled by Vector, at a price of €2.00 per share.

The company will then issue a further 61,643,316 shares in a capital increase with preferential subscription rights at a price of €1.56 per share – Vector has committed to subscribe up to 75% of the amount of the rights issue to ensure its success.

These capital increases, amounting to €167-191m in total, will allow Vector to hold between 18% and 29.94% of Technicolor's share capital.

The fresh funds will allow Technicolor to reduce its debt, currently reported as reaching €1.7bn.

Vector has been battling for more than a month with JP Morgan, which submitted a rival bid for a 30% stake in the business. The offer, valued at up to €158m, gained the support of Technicolor's board at the end of May.