(AOF) – On the occasion of the publication of its 2022 annual accounts, the Bolloré group announced its intention to implement a simplified takeover bid targeting its own shares. Such an offer would fall within the forecasts of the buyback program authorized by the Combined General Meeting of Bolloré shareholders on May 25, 2022. It would relate to 288,607,076 shares, representing 9.78% of its share capital, with, in the event of exceeding of this limit a reduction in orders proportional to the number of shares presented.
The price envisaged is 5.75 euros per share, 2022 dividend attached. The Bolloré share closed at 5.13 euros.
In this context, the group’s Board of Directors decided to set up an ad hoc committee of independent directors to appoint and monitor the work of an independent expert responsible for assessing the fairness of the price.
Compagnie de l’Odet, which holds 66.83% of the capital and 76.72% of the theoretical voting rights of Bolloré, has indicated that, if such an offer were implemented, it would not intend to participate in it in order to leave the full benefit to the other Bolloré shareholders.
The offer would be made for a minimum period of 10 trading days.
The board of directors will make its decision on the offer, and if necessary will issue its reasoned opinion in view of the fairness opinion of the firm A2EF, during the month of April 2023.
Regarding the 2022 results, Bolloré generated a net profit of 2.2 billion euros, including a capital gain on disposal of 3.15 billion euros.
Its adjusted operating income (Ebita) amounted to 1.50 billion euros against 1.34 billion in 2021.
As for the annual turnover, this amounts to 20.68 billion euros, up 20% on a like-for-like basis.
AOF – LEARN MORE
Key points
– Family holding company created in 1822 with strong positions in three activities: transport and logistics –its historical business-, communication and electricity storage solutions;
– Revenues of €19.8 billion, split between transport and rail and port logistics (50% of revenues, mainly in Africa), communication (48% with Vivendi and its subsidiaries Canal +, Havas, etc.), and storage energies and systems under the Blue Solutions and Blue Applications brands;
– Business model aimed at revenue resilience through business diversification combining international development and innovation;
– Capital locked by the Compagnie de l’Odet family holding company (+70% of the shares and nearly 80% of the voting rights), Cyrille Bolloré being Chairman and CEO of the 13-member Board of Directors;
– Healthy balance sheet with, at the end of June 2022, a debt/equity ratio of 13% and €2.6 billion in cash at the holding company level.
Challenges
– Innovation strategy rich in 780 patents and deployed in 3 parts from the Paris and Singapore centers:
– participation in the energy transition through clean energy transport and storage activities, – mastery of lithium batteries, status granted by the French State as an operator of the charging infrastructure network for electric vehicles,
– in logistics: sustainable logistics via alternative products (biofuel evolution) in energy, the integration of LMP (lithium metal polymer) batteries, regulation of flow management, etc.,
– securing information systems, hence the global partnership with China’s Alibaba on the cloud, digital transformation, innovation and data storage;
– Environmental strategy “innovating in the face of environmental challenges”:
– carbon neutrality in 2050 and 30% reduction (vs 2019) in CO2 emissions in 2030:
– more than €150 million invested over the next 3 years in energy transition – LMP, Blubus and Bluestorage batteries,
– preservation of biodiversity and use of renewable energies;
– Relaunch of LMP batteries, already used by buses, in the direction of private vehicles, in partnership with the Canadian Li-Métal, whose series production will begin in 2026;
– After the disposal of logistics activities in Africa, for an amount of €5.7 billion, definition of a maintenance strategy on this continent, in communication, entertainment, telecoms and publishing.
Challenges
– Complex group difficult to value: several self-control structures, cross-shareholdings and frequency of arbitration between shareholdings;
– Monitoring of the valuation of the portfolio of listed securities, worth €17.4 billion, in addition to wine and farming assets;
– Strengthening of the family holding company Cie de l’Odet in the capital of the group;
– Questions about future revenue growth, communication and electricity storage showing lower performance than African logistics;
– 21% increase in revenues at the end of September 2022, driven by price inflation and oil freight;
– Payment in September 2022 of an interim payment of €0.02 on a dividend maintained at €0.06 since 2014.