Vivendi mulls possible break-up, shares jump

Shares in Vivendi sparked on Thursday, after the French media conglomerate said it considering breaking itself up.

In statement posted late on Wednesday, the owner of French pay TV operator Canal+ said it planned to explore splitting the business into several listed entities structured around three core areas.

Those are Canal+, advertising and PR business Havas and an investment firm, which would include a majority stake in Lagardere, France’s largest publisher. Vivendi acquired Lagardere, the owner of Hachette, earlier this year.

Vivendi spun out Universal Music Group, its most valuable business, two years ago in a blockbuster €45bn initial public offering.

But shares in the slimmed down group have underperformed ever since.

Vivendi said it had endured a "significant" conglomerate discount since spinning out Universal, substantially reducing its valuation limiting its ability to carry out external growth transactions” for subsidiaries.

As at 1030 GMT, shares in the Paris-based group were up 8%.

Shares in Bollore, Vivendi’s biggest investor with a near 30% stake, also sparked, up 5%. Bollore is the investment vehicle of French billionaire Vincent Bollore, who first invested in Vivendi in 2011 and remains highly influential in its strategy.

In 2018 his son Yannick replaced him as chair.