Vivendi, which already held 45 % of the shares, will reopen its offer from May 27 to June 9 to acquire more actions from the group. The outcome of the operation remains however subject to the authorization of several bodies, including the European Commission.
Le Monde with AFP
The group of Vincent Bolloré said “takes [re] act with satisfaction” of the result. The French media giant Vivendi, parent company of Canal+, Havas and Editis, holds 55.4 % of the capital of Lagardère after the first phase of its OPA on the group, he announced on Wednesday May 25.
Vivendi, which already held 45 % of the shares, will reopen its offer from May 27 to June 9 to acquire more actions from the group. It maintains its price of 25 euros per share (including the 2022 dividend of 50 cents) until this date. Beyond, until the end of 2023, shareholders who do not wish to give up their titles now can always sell them during a subsidiary period, but at the price lower by 24.10 euros per share.
“The final result of the OPA after reopening will be published by the AMF [Autorité des Marchés Financiers] on June 14, 2022”, specifies Vivendi in its press release.
Several pending authorizations
The outcome of the operation remains subject to the authorization of several bodies. The European Commission could impose “remedies” to validate the marriage between editors Editis and Hachette. As for the Arcom (ex-CSA), it must decide on the takeover of the Lagardère radios (Europe 1, Virgin Radio and RFM).
On this last point, Arnaud Lagardère, CEO of the group which bears his name, announced on May 10 a project to maintain control of his radios, without giving more details in the immediate.
Owner of 11 % of the shares of the Lagardère company, he had indicated that he would not bring his titles to the main offer, but said he was ready to participate in the subsidiary offer.
The sovereign fund of Qatar (QIA), a historic shareholder of Lagardère with 11.5 % of the shares, had expressed his intention not to bring his titles to the operation. As for the boss of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, who holds almost 10 % of the group via La Financière Agache, he had expressed his desire to bring 2 % of the capital to the main offer and the balance to the subsidiary offer.
Vivendi had entered the spring of 2020 in the capital of Lagardère, then weakened by the COVVI-19 crisis (especially on its network of shops in stations and airports) and threatened by a shareholder sling. Vincent Bolloré’s group had been able to ally with the Amber Capital Activist Fund to obtain a transformation of the impregnable Citadel Lagardère into an ordinary public limited company and, above all, likely to be the object of an OPA.