Vincent Bolloré, an old Italian acquaintance for his forays into various large groups, from Tim to Mediaset, is once again causing the financial world to turmoil. This time he is doing it at his home, in France, where, through the Vivendi group, he has launched a takeover bid on the publishing giant Lagardère, which owns brands beyond the Alps of the caliber of Hachette, Europe 1, Paris Match and the Relay chain of stores, which sells food, drinks and newspapers in stations and airports. Vivendi is already the first shareholder of Lagardère, but within a year it will redeem a further 18% today in the hands of the British fund Amber for 610 million euros, thus increasing over 45% of the capital and 36% of the voting rights in the shareholders' meeting. The takeover bid is worth 3,3 billion, with a price set at 24,10 euros per share, 23% more than the value of Lagardère's shares on Wednesday 15 September, the day of the announcement by the group of Bolloré.
The operation, which in the session of Thursday 16 September made Lagardère gain more than 21% on the Paris Stock Exchange (today realized, -1,5% in the morning), is very delicate because Vivendi already owns a telecommunications empire in France and the press, in particular the TV networks Canal Plus and CNews (the latter, from the conservative line, ended up in the eye of the storm among other things because it gives space to the No Vax and sovereign right): it will therefore be necessary the go-ahead from both the European Commission and the Transalpine Antitrust. For decades in the hands of the family of the same name, an era is about to close for Lagardère, even if the group has been under pressure for some time: to date it holds only 11% of the share capital, undermined not only by Bollorè but also by the tycoon Bernard Arnault, patron of LVMH and richest man in France and among the richest in the world.
For now, Bollorè has reiterated his full support for the current management, promising that after the takeover bid, CEO Arnaud Lagardère will remain in his position, but there is now open war between the two.
