The big maneuvers are perhaps far from over for Vincent Bolloré. Only a few weeks after having recorded the definitive takeover of the Lagardère group, after more than three and a half years of ups and downs, the media and publishing giant Vivendi, of which it is the main shareholder, announced on Wednesday December 13 to study a plan to split its activities into several listed entities. Three subsidiaries would thus be created, structured around Canal +, Havas, as well as an investment company including its majority stake in the Lagardère group.
“The Vivendi management board proposed to the supervisory board – which the latter authorized today – the possibility of studying a project to split the company into several entities, each of which would be listed on the stock exchange […]”, says Vivendi in a press release, without further details on the calendar. The announced ambition is to “fully release the development potential of all” of the group’s activities.
An undervalued group on the stock market
This announcement had a real surprise effect: many observers expected to see Vincent Bolloré buy the entire capital of Vivendi in order to take the group off the stock market. But this choice to split Vivendi’s activities is motivated by a similar conviction: that the group would today be undervalued on the Paris Stock Exchange, which is called a conglomerate discount, estimated at 47.5% by the independent analysts from Oddo BHF. The group was even excluded from the CAC 40 last June, before making its return from December 18.
The idea of this split is to individually promote each of the group’s subsidiaries to their full potential, even if it means separating from the Vivendi name, adopted in 1997. This split project, which should be long-term, would provide “human resources and financial agility necessary” for the desired developments, underlines Vivendi, which will provide an update on the progress of the study of the project and its feasibility “in due time”.
A third entity around the Lagardère group
A media juggernaut, Vincent Bolloré’s group is notably supported by the dynamism of Canal + and Havas which respectively posted, in the 3rd quarter, 1.5 billion and 686 million euros in turnover, “in a international context marked by numerous investment opportunities.
The third entity that could emerge is an “investment company holding listed and unlisted financial interests in the culture, media and entertainment sectors”, including its stake in Lagardère, but also perhaps other properties of the group such as the video game publisher Gameloft, the audiovisual production company Banijay or the press group Prisma Médias. Although the operation could take many months to finalize, it clearly shows that the Bolloré group always knows how to beat the odds.