The Vivendi Supervisory Board met today under the chairmanship of Yannick Bolloré.

Vivendi has decided to open a new chapter in its history today, following the distribution of 60% of the share capital of Universal Music Group and its listing on the Amsterdam stock exchange, and the launch of the takeover bid for Lagardère.

The group is now working to build the “New Vivendi”, a world leader in content, media and communications. The ambition is to support all the group’s businesses in their major strategic priorities, help them transform, become more international and work better together to free up energy and create value.

To deliver on this strategy, Vivendi will be able to count on a renewed management team in the coming weeks.

 

New governance at Vivendi

When the mandate of the current Management Board expires on June 23, 2022, a new team will be put in place the following day supporting Arnaud de Puyfontaine, its Chairman. It is made up of:

  • Frédéric Crépin, Vivendi General Counsel.
  • François Laroze, who will be appointed Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi and who will remain
    Chief Financial Officer at Havas.
  • Claire Léost, President of Prisma Media.
  • Céline Merle-Béral, who will be appointed Chief of HR Strategy and Corporate Culture at Vivendi. She will keep her role at Havas, with an adapted organization.
  • Maxime Saada, Chairman and CEO of Canal+ Group and Dailymotion.

To support it in implementing the group’s strategic orientations, this new Management Board will be able to rely on a newly formed Executive Committee, in which the Chairman and members of the Management Board will participate, made up for the moment of:

  • Raphaël de Andreis, President of Havas in France and Southern Europe, who will also work alongside Arnaud de Puyfontaine to support Vivendi in Italy and on cross-functional projects.
  • Hala Bavière, who will be appointed Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi Village.
  • Michèle Benbunan, Chief Executive Officer of Editis, who will also take up an assignment with Arnaud de Puyfontaine to support Vivendi in publishing.
  • Lorella Gessa, who will be appointed Chief Communications Officer of Vivendi. A new organization will be proposed shortly for the Havas Communications Department.
  • Félicité Herzog, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Vivendi.
  • Caroline Le Masne, Head of Legal, Compliance and CSR Vivendi.
  • Michel Sibony, Chief Value Officer Vivendi.

“The entire Supervisory Board is very pleased to welcome new members to a renewed Management Board supporting Arnaud de Puyfontaine, its Chairman. It is also now able to count on an Executive Committee, bringing together a variety of talent and expertise from across the group. These two bodies, which are perfectly in line with our ‘New Vivendi’ plan, will enable us to accelerate the transformation, internationalization and integration of all our activities,” said Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi.

 

Creation of the Vivendi Foundation 

Because generosity is one of its essential pillars, the group is also pleased to announce today the creation of the Vivendi Foundation, which will be chaired by Stéphane Roussel. The Foundation will bring together the group’s solidarity programs, such as Create Joy, and its associative partnerships in Europe and Africa. This initiative is in line with the group’s ambition to play a role for society as a whole and to contribute to improving the world we live in.

“The creation of the Vivendi Foundation is also a powerful symbol of the new momentum we wish to give to our group and to our social and environmental commitment, which has been steadily strengthening over the past few years,” commented Yannick Bolloré.

He added: “The entire Supervisory board would like to acknowledge the remarkable contribution of the members of the current Management Board to Vivendi’s success.”

  • Gilles Alix has expressed his desire to retire at the end of the year. He will continue to accompany the group until the Lagardère agreement is finalized.
  • Cédric de Bailliencourt will focus on his activities within the Bolloré Group.
  • Simon Gillham will ensure the transition with Lorella Gessa and Hala Bavière. He will also continue to support Vivendi in matters of influence in France and the UK, as well as in the sports sphere, particularly rugby.
  • Hervé Philippe will ensure the transition with François Laroze and should then hold a new position in the group in the future.
  • As Stéphane Roussel is to become Chairman of the Vivendi Foundation, Arnaud de Puyfontaine will assume the interim Presidency of Gameloft.

 

About Vivendi

Since 2014, Vivendi has built a world-class content, media and communications group. The Group owns leading, strongly complementary assets in television and movies (Canal+ Group), communications (Havas Group), publishing (Editis), magazines (Prisma Media), video games (Gameloft), live entertainment and ticketing (Vivendi Village). It also owns a global digital content distribution platform (Dailymotion). Vivendi’s various businesses cohesively work together as an integrated industrial group to create greater value. Vivendi is committed to the environment and has set the goal of contributing to net zero carbon worldwide by adopting an approach in line with the Paris Agreements. In addition, the Group is helping to build more open, inclusive and responsible societies by supporting diverse and inventive creative works, promoting broader access to culture, education and its businesses, and by increasing awareness of 21st-century challenges and opportunities. www.vivendi.com