The French media conglomerate will sell the stake to one or more “strategic partners” to secure the highest value and has ruled out an initial public offering because it is too complex, Vivendi said in a statement on Monday.

The sale will probably be launched “this fall,” it said and could be completed within the next 18 months. Vivendi said it would establish a floor price for the stake. Analysts at Liberum this month valued UMG at 20.6 billion euros ($24 billion).

Last year, online streaming services became the recording industry’s biggest revenue generator, bringing a payday for its owners. Swedish music streaming platform Spotify Technology SA listed in April and this month Tencent Holdings Ltd. announced a plan to spin off its online music business with a listing in the US.

Vivendi said Universal Music’s streaming business performed strongly in the first half of 2018. Universal Music is the company’s biggest profit generator, representing around 45% of revenue and 70% of operating income last year.

The rise of illegal downloads more than a decade ago was a body blow for music companies. Their efforts to promote legal downloads failed, leaving them with no viable alternative to CD sales before they reluctantly embraced streaming.

Vivendi said its second-quarter revenue was 3.35 billion euros, missing the 3.38 billion-euro average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.