(AOF) – Lagardère climbed nearly 5%, to 25.32 euros per share, to place second in the SBF 120, after the publication of a press release from Vivendi in which the media conglomerate said it was considering raising the price of his takeover bid. In mid-December, Vivendi revealed that it had acquired Amber Capital’s stake in Lagardère at a price of 24.10 euros per share, an amount which should be guaranteed until December 15, 2023. Shareholders who offer their shares immediately could they will receive 25.50 euros, less the 2021 dividend of 50 cents.
Contacted by AOF, Vivendi did not wish to comment further, sticking to the press release published at the start of the afternoon. The group’s final decision on the terms of its public offer will thus be taken by its Management Board and made public on February 21, the date also envisaged for the filing of the offer with the AMF.
Vivendi currently holds 45.1% of the capital and 36.1% of the voting rights of Lagardère, the public offer will remain open 25 days after the compliance decision published on the AMF website. This may be the subject of a counter-offer filed by a third party and possibly a higher bid.
The announcement of a possible increase in the takeover price comes the day after the publication of Lagardère’s annual accounts. The publishing group indeed published 2021 accounts yesterday in marked improvement, with a net loss divided by more than 6 to 101 million euros, an operating result again in the green at 249 million euros, as well as sales up 18.6% like-for-like to 513 billion euros.