[ad_1]
Vivendi won the support of shareholders to split its largest business, Universal Music Group, into an independent company, which will be controlled by billionaire Vincent Bolloré and will focus on traditional European media.
Tuesday’s vote paved the way for Vivendi to distribute 60% of the world’s largest music label to its shareholders. This distribution method is called physical distribution. The brands behind artists such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish will become independent companies worth 35 billion euros recently and are scheduled to be listed on the Euronext Amsterdam in September.
After this move, a consortium controlled by China Tencent will own 20% of the newly independent UMG, Bolloré’s personal holding company will own 18% of the shares, and Vivendi will own 10% of the shares.
A blank cheque company controlled by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman also Recently bought Holds 10% of UMG shares and will be distributed to its shareholders after listing.
The vote was a major victory for corporate predator and industrialist Bolloré, who first entered Vivendi in 2012 when he sold two small TV channels of the French group in exchange for shares.
Subsequently, he gradually increased his holdings to effectively control the group, and became the chairman of the board of directors in 2014. The businessman’s Bolloré Group operates transportation and logistics businesses in Africa, and he presided over a series of asset sales that led Vivendi to withdraw from the video game and telecommunications businesses. Most of the proceeds will be returned to shareholders including himself.
In 2018, he passed the chairmanship of Vivendi to his son Yannick Bolloré, but he is still the driving force of the group. Bolloré’s holding company owns 27% of Vivendi’s shares and controls 29.73% of voting rights.
Some radical investors, such as Bluebell Capital with Third point Vivendi already held shares before Tuesday’s vote, and the former criticized the terms of UMG’s separation. However, neither called on shareholders to stop it.
Since Vivendi only needs a simple majority of shareholders to approve, Vivendi faces an uphill struggle to thwart this move or modify its terms.
Vivendi also won a separate vote on a resolution against which activists opposed the resolution that gave the group the option to buy back up to half of its share capital at a maximum price of 29 euros per share after the UMG transaction.
ISS and Glass Lewis, an agency consulting firm, suggested to vote against the resolution, arguing that the resolution was not in the interests of minority shareholders. Bluebell Capital has warned that Bolloré can use this tool to increase his shares in Vivendi without having to make a tender offer when shareholders own more than 30% of a company’s shares, as normally required by French securities laws.
After the separation of UMG, Vivendi’s remaining business will include pay-TV operator Canal Plus, advertising company Havas and book publisher Editis. It also owns 29% of the French media and retail group Lagardère and 24% of Telecom Italia.
[ad_2]
Source link
