Vivendi, the Paris-headquartered media conglomerate, is about to enter a new era with its flagship pay TV banner Canal+ Group set for a bow at the London Stock Exchange.
Slated for Dec. 16, the listing of Canal+ Group, which is the parent company of “Paddington” producer Studiocanal, is part of a spinoff project which was just approved on Monday at Vivendi’s shareholders meeting, under the chairmanship of Yannick Bolloré.
The project, which received 97.5% of the votes, will see Canal+ split from Vivendi, along with Havas and Louis Hachette Group which will also be listing separately, in Amsterdam and in Paris, respectively.
Louis Hachette Group brings together Vivendi’s 66.53% stake in Lagardère and 100% of Prisma Media.
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“We are delighted with the very high adoption rate of our spin-off project. This undisputable result confirms the strong support of our shareholders for this transformative transaction,” said Bolloré.
“The Supervisory Board would like to warmly thank Arnaud de Puyfontaine and the whole Management Board, all the teams involved in this project, our different advisors and our shareholders for their trust. We are convinced that this new chapter for Canal+, Havas and Louis Hachette Group will be very promising and create value for all stakeholders,” Bolloré continued.
The plan, first revealed in December 2023, aims to address Vivendi’s conglomerate discount (in which a diversified group is valued at less than the sum of its parts) and unlock value for its subsidiaries. The spinoff project is also meant to drive growth and synergy opportunities with Canal+’s subsidiaries overseas, including MultiChoice in Africa, Viaplay in Scandinavia and Viu in South-East Asia.
Under the plan, Vivendi will remain listed on Euronext Paris, focusing on developing Gameloft and managing its investment portfolio, which includes Universal Music Group.
A sign of Canal+’s international ambition, the company’s board has recently welcomed veteran Hollywood exec Bob Bakish, most recently CEO of Paramount, as its new member. The IPO of Canal+ Group was spearheaded by its financial director Amandine Ferré, who was previously head of business development for Studiocanal in China and worked on the IPO for Viu.
While both Canal+ and Havas will be listed in London and Amsterdam, their leadership and operational teams will remain based at the Paris headquarters. They’ll also continue being French tax residents.