Vivendi SE said that its Canal+ broadcasting business should be listed on the London Stock Exchange and that the Havas advertising agency is likely to trade in Amsterdam, as French billionaire Vincent Bolloré moves ahead with plans to break up his sprawling media and entertainment empire.
Louis Hachette Group, a new company that brings together Vivendi’s publishing and distribution assets, would be listed in Paris, the company said in a statement on Monday. Following the split, the Bolloré Group would hold about 30.6% of the shares of Canal+, Louis Hachette Group and Havas respectively. Because of the voting rights structure in Havas, Bolloré Group will have more than 40% of the voting rights.
Bolloré is often dubbed the “French Murdoch” after building out a powerful media empire that spans broadcast, cinema, publishing, music, cinema and gaming. The plan to break up the business marks a shift away from France as the mogul pushes to internationalize his media assets.
Vivendi said the feasibility study for its split plan favored London for Canal+ “to reflect the company’s international dimension,” confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The pay-TV unit, which is in the process of buying MultiChoice Group Ltd. in Africa, counts two-thirds of its subscribers outside of France. Still, the business will remain incorporated and taxed in its home country.
A Dutch listing for ad agency Havas is the “best possible position to carry out its new global strategy,” Vivendi said. The new Louis Hachette Group would be listed in Paris on Euronext Growth, and include the world’s third-largest book publisher, Hachette, as well as the media arm that the Bolloré family has been expanding through acquisitions.
All three of the newly split-off companies will keep their “decision-making center” and operational teams in France, Vivendi said. The remaining Vivendi business would remain listed in Paris and manage the firm’s investments in Universal Music Group and Telecom Italia, as well as smaller video game company Gameloft.
Vivendi said it was weighing a breakup in December to boost its share price, and said it was suffering from a “conglomerate discount” that was limiting its subsidiaries’ ability to grow. It was a reversal for Bolloré, who’d tried to create synergies between the group’s activities, turning intellectual property such as Paddington Bear into films, books and marketing campaigns in an effort to build a European empire to rival Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co.
A decision could be made at the end of October and voted on by shareholders in December, Vivendi said. The split needs investors holding at least two-thirds of Vivendi’s shares to approve the deal before it goes ahead.
“If we were to go ahead, we will need to convince all the shareholders,” Havas Chief Executive Officer Yannick Bolloré, who is Vincent’s son, told Bloomberg in June. “Our peers are listed, so we know investors that are interested in this sector.”
