(Boursier.com) — Vivendi announces that it has today 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 offered by Vivendi, namely the sale of 100% of the capital of Editis, for which the Group entered into a purchase agreement with International Media Invest as on April 23, as well as to the full sale of Gala magazine, which has already been the subject of many expressions of interest.
Vivendi is confident that it will be able to finalize these two operations by the end of October
Vivendi is delighted with this authorization, which will give it a whole new dimension. 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 reinforced presence in key markets such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. Its annual turnover will reach around 17 billion euros based on 2022 results, compared to around 10 billion today.
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.
The support of a large and stable shareholder like Vivendi will enable the Lagardère group to accelerate its development and offer even more opportunities to its employees around the world. The integrity of the Lagardère group will be preserved and Arnaud Lagardère will remain its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi, declared: “The European Commission’s decision is excellent news for Vivendi, which will be able to carry out its ambitious development project with the Lagardère group. This merger will meet our strategic ambition. internationalization of our activities and our desire to be a leading global player in culture and entertainment. We would like to salute Arnaud Lagardère for the confidence he has never ceased to express in favor of our project and We look forward to meeting the talents of the group soon.”
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chairman of the Executive Board of Vivendi, added: “This merger will be profoundly transformative for our two groups. We fully intend to leverage our respective strengths to write together a new page in the history of our companies. We look forward to seeing the teams of our two companies pool their know-how and capitalize on the complementarities between them to accelerate the development of our activities and offer exciting new perspectives to the many talents who place their trust in us.”
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