Technicolor to Sell Shares to Vector; Reorient from Set-Top-Box Business

By Inti Landauro

PARIS--Technicolor SA (TECH.FR) will start selling as much as 191 million euros ($233.3 million) worth of new shares to equity fund Vector Capital Group on Monday to raise cash to reduce its debt and reorient the company from its unprofitable set-top-box business.

The capital increase, in which Vector will receive 18% to 29.94% of Technicolor's equity, was approved in late June by Technicolor's shareholders after a bidding war between Vector and U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

The operation will be carried out through two capital increases. A first one reserved to Vector, which will pay EUR2 per share, and a second one, due to open July 18 and close August 2, in which Vector has the right to buy as much as 75% of the shares put for sale at EUR1.56 a share, Technicolor said Friday.

Technicolor, which takes its name from its iconic U.S. media-processing division, has been struggling, especially its set-top-box business in France. The capital to be injected by Vector will allow Technicolor to focus on other businesses such as digital media services, where the company holds numerous patents.

Technicolor will also use part of the new equity to reduce its net debt of about EUR1 billion.

The French government has said it is closely monitoring the situation at Technicolor because the company has said it might need to sell or close one of its French factories that makes set-top boxes.

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