(AOF) – Vivendi has obtained authorization from the European Commission to carry out its proposed merger with the Lagardère group. This authorization is subject to the fulfillment of the two commitments, namely the sale of Editis, for which the group entered into a purchase agreement with International Media Invest as on April 23, and the full sale of the magazine Gala , which is already the subject of many expressions of interest.
Vivendi is confident that it will be able to finalize these two transactions by the end of October.
This merger will meet the strategic objective that the group has set itself to develop its international presence and will enable it to become the world’s third-largest consumer and educational publishing group, while integrating a new, fast-growing activity, the travel retail.
With the Lagardère group, Vivendi will now have 66,000 employees compared to 38,000 based on the workforce at the end of December 2022, with a stronger presence in key markets such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. United. Its annual turnover will reach around 17 billion euros based on 2022 results, compared to around 10 billion today.