French media giant Vivendi says it is exploring splitting up the company into several entities with each listed on the stock market.
Vivendi said the businesses that could be spun off are TV division Canal+, advertising arm Havas and an investment company that would include stakes in publishing giant Lagardère.
Explaining the move, Vivendi said that since spinning off Universal Music Group in 202t it “has endured a significantly high conglomerate discount, substantially reducing its valuation and thereby limiting its ability to carry out external growth transactions for its subsidiaries.”
Vivendi said that Canal+, Havas and Lagardère are “currently experiencing strong growth in an international context marked by numerous investment opportunities” and that it would examine spinning them off “to fully unleash the development potential of all its activities.”
Canal+ Group has a subscriber base of over 25 million in nearly 50 countries. Following the acquisitions of M7 and SPI, the company has taken stakes in businesses such as Multichoice, VIU and Viaplay.
Havas has over 23,000 employees spread across more than 100 countries and has made a number of acquisitions over the past two years to strengthen its expertise and geographic footprint.
The proposed investment company with listed and unlisted financial stakes in the cultural, media and entertainment sectors would include Vivendi’s majority stake in the Lagardère group.
Vivendi said it would provide an update in due course on the progress of the study of the splitting off project, and its feasibility.
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