Vivendi‘s plan to split its business in three has gotten board approval and will be taken to a shareholder vote on December 9. Should it go ahead, former Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish will take a seat on the Canal+ board.
The board has approved the resolutions that will be submitted to shareholders to vote on whether Canal+, ad business Havas and publishing house Louis Hachette Group should separate.
Should the demerger go ahead, Canal+ will begin trading with debts of €400M ($433M) and have a corporate team led by Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Maxime Saada, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO. Jacques du Puy and Anna Marsh will both be Deputy CEO, and Amandine Ferré will be CFO.
Board members will include Bolloré, Arnaud de Puyfontaine and, intriguingly, U.S. entertainment veteran Bakish, who has been lying low since his exit as CEO of Paramount earlier this year in April. Bakish will comprise one of eight independent members on the 12-strong board.
We hear that he and Saada have a close working relationship, built through numerous content deals between Paramount and Canal+. In August, the two companies announced an extension to their current agreement so that all Canal+ subs can access Paramount+ free of charge. Canal+ offers all of Paramount’s pay-TV channel through its platform, and acquires exclusive Paramount programs and films.
The Canal+ and Louis Hachette elements of the split will require two-thirds majorities, while the Netherlands-based Havas part will just need a majority. This is due to the changes that will impact the corporate structures of the different businesses.
Should the plan get shareholder approval, the three businesses would begin trading separately on December 16. Each individual stake owner would see shares allotted on a one-to-one bases. In effect, each Vivendi shareholder who participates in the spin-off will receive one Canal+ share, one Havas share and one Louis Hachette Group share, while retaining their Vivendi share.
Under the new structure, Canal+ would be listed in the UK, Havas in the Netherlands and Louis Hachette on Euronext. Each company would operate separately with a “decision-making center of their activities, as well as their operational teams, in France.” Vivendi would remain on Euronext Paris.
Per an announcement back in July, Canal+, which houses pay-TV operates and Paddington maker Studiocanal, will remain incorporated and taxed in France and not be subject to mandatory stock market regs on public offers in either France or the UK. The plan was to leave Canal+ with virtually no debt, but Vivendi is now reporting it will begin trading on December 16 with debt of €400M ($433M), of which about €225M will be related to the company’s investment in African content giant MultiChoice.