Vivendi sale of Activision looking less likely, new options considered

The ongoing sale of Activision has not been seeing many takers, it has been revealed. Vivendi Universal has apparently been having considerable trouble enticing other firms to pick up its 61 percent stake in the largest gaming publisher in the world. The sale of Activision, which is worth $8.3 billion on the market, was being offered at "12 percent" or higher according to some sources.

With only a few nibbles, Vivendi is apparently looking elsewhere within the conglomerate to offload assets. Brazilian telecommunications giant Global Village Telecom could be on the chopping block, bringing in something in the neighborhood of $8.59 to $10.42 billion.

Vivendi, a French media conglomerate, has long held onto many of the firms within its portfolio. While Activision might not be offloaded, the sale of GVT signifies a rising concern that Vivendi is starting to sink into hot water. The sale of GVT was once considered an impossibility, according to one source cited by Reuters. "[The] sale of GVT is no longer taboo and is now being considered internally," the source acknowledged.

It was reported that firms such as Tencent, Facebook, Apple, Time Warner and Microsoft apparently all scoffed at the premium being asked by Vivendi for Activision. The company originally bought Activision through a merger in 2008 to the estimated tune of $18.9 billion at an original stake of 52 percent.