“Big Business” n°151: Vivendi never existed

Dear subscribers,

A large French company is leaving us on tiptoe. This Monday, December 16, Vivendi is divided into four pieces, each side… on its own: Havas in Amsterdam, Canal+ in London, Louis Hachette Group in Paris, as well as Vivendi SE, the group's residual holding company.

This operation provoked few reactions. The activist fund CIAM tried, in vain, to create an outcry among shareholders, arguing that the choice of the listing places of Havas and Canal+, where the Bolloré family will be able to pass the 30% threshold of capital without having to launch a mandatory public offer as would be the case in France, deprives them of any prospect of a control bonus. At the general meeting at the beginning of the month, the shareholders voted as one (97%) in favor of the split. The expected valuation of this operation undoubtedly seemed much more attractive to them than a long fight with a hypothetical outcome. Said another way…