By Mathieu Rosemain and Tassilo Hummel
PARIS (Reuters) -French media group Vivendi said it will pursue a London listing for Canal+, while its Havas advertising business will be listed in Amsterdam under its break-up plans.
Vivendi will essentially become a listed investment holding company under the plans fleshed out on Monday, managing notably a 10% stake in Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music label, which it also spun-off three years ago.
The break-up, aimed at improving the valuation of Vivendi’s various businesses to help them grow through acquisitions, represents a break from its previous strategy, touted for years by top shareholder Vincent Bollore, to develop an integrated, European-based media powerhouse.
It would also allow the Bollore family to keep sway over Havas and pay-TV business Canal+, as the Bollore group would own close to a third of their respective share capital after their planned spin-offs.
Under the plan, which entails the distribution of Havas and Canal+’s shares to Vivendi shareholders, the Bollores would own 30.6% of both entities, Vivendi said.
In the case of Havas, led by Bollore’s son Yannick, this would translate into voting rights of 40% thanks to double voting rights granted under Dutch corporate law to long-term shareholders.
A third entity, dubbed Louis Hachette Group, would assemble Vivendi’s controlling stake in media firm Lagardere and Prisma Media, France’s biggest magazine press group. That company would be listed on Euronext Growth in Paris, Euronext’s lesser regulated market for medium-sized companies.
Canal+ and Havas would have virtually zero net debt, the company said, adding that Vivendi itself could have net debt of about 1.5 billion euros to 2 billion euros ($1.63 billion – $2.18 billion) after the move.
No final decision on the break-up has been taken, Vivendi said, adding that it could be taken at the end of October before a potential extraordinary shareholder meeting in December.
Vivendi’s shares were up by close to 1.3% at 0832 GMT.
($1 = 0.9185 euros)
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)
