Vivendi, the French media group's share took a hike after it posted higher third-quarter revenue and shared that a potential sale of their stake in Universal Music Group (UMG) was drawing buyer attention.
Vivendi's shares were up by 2.7% in early trading, the best performer on France's benchmark CAC-40 index (.FCHI) which was down by 0.7%.
"Group trading continues to track well, but we view the major catalyst for share price upside in the short term to be further sell-down of UMG," wrote brokerage Liberum, which kept a "buy" rating on Vivendi.
Investors apart from China's Tencent Holdings have also shown interest in buying a minority stake in Universal as it was the leading sales growth driver for Vivendi in the third quarter, Vivendi shared on Thursday.
The Paris-based group, controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, strives to cash in on a music industry revival, driven by a growing thirst for subscription and advertising-based streaming services.
The company said it was still in talks with Tencent for a sale of up to 20% of Universal, which could value the division at about 30 billion euros ($33.4 billion). Due-diligence and legal documentation on the Universal sale is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, Vivendi added.