With the global voting looming, Third Point increased its stake in Vivendi

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Activist investor Third Point has taken a stake in the media group Vivendi controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, and shareholders’ vote on its plan to spin off Universal Music Group is coming Kicked off.

A source familiar with the fund said that the New York-based hedge fund had a “substantial” position in the French media group by Daniel Loeb in the past few months.

Vivendi said that there is no information about equity at this stage.

The third point declined to comment on how it plans to use its equity. At the time of its investment, Vivendi was finalizing a deal to sell shares of Universal Music to Bill Ackerman’s Blank Check Company. If Loeb opposes the deal, the two giants in the investment world will confront each other.

Pershing Square Tottine Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company established by Ackerman, Said earlier this month It is negotiating to acquire a 10% stake in Universal Music, the record company behind artists such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, for approximately $4.1 billion.

This transaction will make Universal Pictures more than 40 billion U.S. dollars in valuation.However, unlike the traditional space The merger will not make the group public. Instead, Vivendi plans to divest Universal Music and allocate 60% of the group’s equity to investors. Global will then be listed on Euronext Amsterdam in the third quarter of 2021.

Vivendi shareholders will vote on the release of Universal Music on June 22. Some investors, including the activist hedge fund Bluebell, have expressed concern about the proposal.

Marco Taricco, the co-founder of Bluebell, which owns a small stake in Vivendi, said at the time that the valuation “does not seem to be impressive.” In May of this year, Bluebell sent two letters to Vivendi regarding the separation of the group’s largest asset.

The London-based fund said that the spin-off is a good idea in principle, but questioned this structure, namely dividends in kind, which it said would hit the huge taxation of small shareholders. Bluebell has asked Vivendi to pay shareholders an additional special cash dividend of approximately 3.3 billion euros.

According to Bloomberg, another Vivendi shareholder, Artisan Partners, is reported to oppose the proposed transaction with Ackerman, which echoes Bluebell’s concerns about the tax bill arising from the distribution of shares.

If shareholders vote against the physical distribution at the meeting next week, Ackerman’s plan to invest in Universal Music may be jeopardized.

Vivendi only needs a simple majority of 50% to approve the Universal spin-off. Bolloré’s holding company owns 27% of Vivendi and actually controls 29.73% of the voting rights of the group.

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