Vivendi is planning to make a bid for publishing and travel retail giant Lagardère if regulators approve its plan to buy out Amber Capital’s stake, a deal that would create one of Europe’s biggest media companies, Bloomberg reported.
The group intends to acquire activist investor Amber Capital’s 17.93% stake in the group at the latter’s invitation – in line with a previous agreement between the pair. If the €610 million (US$720 million) purchase is approved, Vivendi will hold 45% of Lagardère’s share capital and 36% of the voting rights, the company said in the statement.
Vivendi agreed to buy 25.3 million shares of Lagardère, owner of assets including Paris Match magazine and Europe 1 radio, held by the activist investor for €24.10 apiece, according to the statement. Lagardère rose as much as 22.6% to €23.90 on Thursday, while Vivendi shares were little changed.
While Vivendi anticipates that regulators would want to see some remedies from the combination of the two media companies, it plans to go ahead with the offer once it is approved, a spokesman said in an interview.
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