France's Vivendi jumps into obstacle race for Dailymotion

France's Vivendi has made an offer for Dailymotion after attempts by Yahoo! and a Hong Kong telecoms giant to snap up a stake in the video-sharing site were thwarted by the French government.
The YouTube equivalent, which belongs to telecoms group Orange, has long generated interest from companies far and wide but several attempts to buy a stake in the platform have been met with resistance from the French government, which would prefer to see it remain in European hands.
In 2013, France blocked a bid by Yahoo! of the United States to acquire Dailymotion, and last week the finance ministry said it opposed exclusive talks between Orange and PCCW group, prompting the Hong Kong firm to drop its bid.
Vivendi announced Tuesday it had made an offer to Orange for Dailymotion, though it gave no details as to the scale or amount of the bid.
The daily Le Monde reported Monday that the French multinational planned to buy up nearly all of the video-sharing platform for 250 million euros ($270 million).
Other companies have also expressed an interest in Dailymotion, according to several media reports, including French holding firm Fimalac and German groups Axel Springer and Bertelsmann.
The government's reluctance to sell Dailymotion to US or Hong Kong firms has some in France scratching their heads, particularly as it allowed the sale of a near 50-percent stake in the strategic airport of Toulouse to a Chinese consortium in December.