Is Universal Music Group going to be sold?

Media mogul John Malone is playing again in the music arena. The chairman of Liberty Media approached Vincent Bolloré, the chairman and biggest shareholder of Vivendi, to gauge the French media and entertainment conglomerate’s interest in selling Universal Music Group, The Post has learned. Malone and his top lieutenant, Greg Maffei, made the overture for the world’s biggest record company in the last few months, sources said.

The French activist investor, whose 8.3 percent stake in Vivendi makes him a key decision maker, showed little interest in parting ways with Universal, according to sources.

Bolloré, who is considered France’s version of Carl Icahn, has said publicly that his strategy calls for Vivendi to expand its media holdings.

Vivendi spurned a similar approach from Japan’s SoftBank in 2013. The telecom giant made an $8.5 billion all-cash offer — roughly $2 billion more than Universal’s estimated value at the time.

Malone would likely have to cough up even more for Universal.

“They would have to pay an astronomical number,” said one source. “They are not well liked by Vivendi.”

Malone has a history with Vivendi. Liberty won a $950 million verdict against Vivendi in 2013, after it sued the French company for allegedly inflating the value of the shares it used to purchase Liberty’s stake in USA Networks more than a decade earlier. Vivendi vowed to appeal the decision.

Reps for Vivendi and Liberty declined to comment.

Malone’s bid for Universal, which sources said was informal and deemed a long shot, is just one possible path. Music publishing is another area of interest for Liberty, sources said.

Still, his interest underscores the attractiveness of music in the digital era, even as record companies struggle to replace shrinking CD sales.

Universal, whose artists include Taylor Swift, Sam Smith and U2, saw revenue fall 6.7 percent last year, hurt by lost physical sales.

Nevertheless, the music giant stands to benefit as consumers increasingly stream music to their mobile devices.

Spotify, Pandora and other streaming services are rising in popularity. Last year, global streaming revenue topped $1 billion for the first time, according to industry group IFPI.

Universal is also co-owner of Vevo, the online music video hub and a big driver of traffic for Google’s YouTube.

Universal could serve Malone’s interests in more ways than one.

The media bigwig likely sees some overlapping benefits in combining it with his existing music holdings. Liberty owns concert promoter Live Nation and satellite-radio outfit Sirius XM.

What’s more, Liberty Global, which counts Malone as its controlling shareholder, is the world’s largest cable operator with growing broadband and mobile operations. Universal’s music content could help drive broadband and mobile traffic.

Vivendi shares were up slightly in Monday trading, rising 0.3 percent to 21.62.

Source: http://nypost.com