The new twist in the Mediaset-Vivendi affair arrived on Monday evening after the stock market was closed. Vincent Bolloré, who has already placed 20% of Mediaset's capital in a safe, announces his latest moves in a press release, namely that he has "decided to increase the stake in Mediaset within the limit of 30% of the capital and voting rights". The thunderbolt comes a few hours after the board of directors of the television company, which will meet on Tuesday in Milan. Considering that the initial 20% purchased on the market cost around 800 million, as stated by Vivendi's CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine, the group is therefore willing to spend another 400 to bring Silvio Berlusconi to the negotiating table, for a total of 1,2 billion invested.
Vivendi, reads the note, "recalls that its presence in the capital of Mediaset is part of the desire to develop an international group of media and content with a European essence in Southern Europe and within the framework of its strategic ambitions". The decision comes after a meeting of the Executive Committee and the authorization of the Supervisory Board and projects the media company on the threshold of the mandatory takeover bid, which is triggered when the threshold of 30% of the shareholdings or voting rights is exceeded.
The spotlights are therefore all focused, at this point, on the meeting of the Alfa board of directors. It will be remembered that Fininvest has officially filed a complaint against Vivendi for market manipulation and abuse of privileged information for the takeover of Mediaset. The deed follows the complaint presented by Fininvest to the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office on 13 December and also sent for information to Consob. The complaint asks the Commission which supervises listed companies to exercise the powers that the law attributes to it in the matter. Fininvest's lawyers today also filed further documents relating to the matter with the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office.
Stock surge Tuesday morning: Mediaset surpasses €4 at 9:27 on Tuesday morning, up 13,9%:
(updated Tuesday, December 20 at 9:45 am)
