The split of Vivendi, a French media and publishing giant, becomes effective Monday with the listing of three new entities on the stock exchange in London, Amsterdam and Paris, still under the control of billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
From 9:00 a.m. (8:00 a.m. GMT), the Canal+ television group will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Havas (communication) on Euronext Amsterdam and Louis Hachette Group (Hachette Livre, French number one, Relay in distribution, media such as Europe 1, JDD, Voici, Géo…) in Paris on the Euronext Growth market, regulated but not regulated.
The first stock exchanges will be scrutinized. But “it's the long term that matters”, estimates a source close to Vivendi who initially predicts great volatility.
Maxime Saada, boss of Canal+, does not expect “that the share price” which concerns him “will follow a path paved with roses in the first weeks, the first months”. “We will measure the success of this IPO in two to three years,” he said in the French newspaper Le Figaro.
For the rest, the holding company itself remains listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, and its price must adjust.
For one Vivendi share held before the split, one Canal+ share, one Havas and one Louis Hachette Group share were allocated, and the Vivendi share is retained. Ultimately, Vivendi should exit the CAC 40.
A first step was passed with flying colors last Monday: the split project was approved by shareholders, by more than 97%.
According to the chairman of the management board, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, “a new chapter in its history” is opening for Vivendi, “while remaining faithful to what it is”.
Why this operation, announced a year ago? The group's price “did not reflect the true value of its assets”, recalled Yannick Bolloré, son of Vincent Bolloré and chairman of the supervisory board of Vivendi, which constituted “a handicap for our shareholders and for the development of our activities “.
Vivendi, which had some 73,000 employees at the end of 2023, was valued at nearly 8.55 billion euros at the close on Friday. The bet is therefore that the sum of the four independent values is much greater.
– Canal+ to international –
At the end of October, Yannick Bolloré put forward a valuation of the whole “around 16 billion” euros, including 6.8 billion for Canal+, 3.4 billion for Havas, 2.1 billion for Louis Hachette Group and 4.5 billion for Vivendi. But analysts forecast less for the coming days.
The operation “does not provide any certainty”, considered the management company Phitrust in November. This notably feared “a holding discount” for Vivendi, which will continue to manage various minority stakes as well as the 100%-owned video game publisher Gameloft.
Before shareholders, Vivendi executives defended their choices, affirming that there was “no other alternative”.
Thus for Canal+ in London, “the strategy is clearly to take the group internationally” and to allow “increased visibility in English-speaking markets”, underlined Yannick Bolloré.
Two thirds of subscribers are already outside France, and this proportion is set to increase with the public purchase offer launched for the South African television giant MultiChoice.
Canal+ has reached “a critical size, with 27 million subscribers in more than 50 countries and we are targeting 50 to 100 million in the coming years”, underlines Maxime Saada.
A sign of hope on Canal+, on the British side: Finance Minister Rachel Reeves received this official on Friday.
Concerning Havas, the Amsterdam location was selected for the possibility of creating a foundation there to shelter it from a possible hostile takeover bid and thus reassure its teams.
The head offices will remain in France, except that of Havas. The companies will all be French tax residents.
The split has sparked some small shareholders who fear losing out and seeing Vincent Bolloré, who has been at the helm of Vivendi since 2014, strengthen his control.
The Bolloré group was until Monday the reference shareholder of Vivendi with 29.9%, and will reach around 31% in the new entities.
The activist fund CIAM (0.025% of Vivendi's capital) is continuing its legal appeals to obtain the annulment of the split, which according to its managers “circumvents the law on mandatory takeover bids”.
