Vivendi today announced that its notification file on the Lagardère group proposed transaction was declared complete and that, as a result, it has formally filed its notification with the European Commission pursuant to the European Merger Control Regulation.
Vivendi continues to study the proposed divestment of 100% of its subsidiary Editis, which would be primarily carried out by distributing Editis shares to Vivendi’s shareholders and simultaneously having the shares admitted to trading on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. The Bolloré group, Vivendi’s principal shareholder, is expected to sell all the Editis shares it would receive in the distribution so that Editis would have a stable core shareholder base.
In order for such a plan to be implemented, it would need in particular to be authorized by the European Commission. It would also be subject to the information and consultation procedure involving the relevant employee representative bodies.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chairman of Vivendi’s Management Board and its Chief Executive Officer, said: “The notification to the European Commission of our plan to acquire Lagardère is a major step forward in our objective to create a world-class publishing leader. At the same time, we want to ensure the continuity and integrity of Editis while safeguarding the competitive balance of the French publishing market.”
About Vivendi
Since 2014, Vivendi has been building a world-class content, media and communications group. The Group owns leading, highly complementary assets in television and movies (Canal+ Group), communications (Havas Group), publishing (Editis), magazines (Prisma Media), video games (Gameloft) and 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 global net zero carbon 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 increasing awareness of 21st-century challenges and opportunities. www.vivendi.com.
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