Vincent Bolloré Ups Stake, Voting Rights in Vivendi
PARIS — Vincent Bolloré, the Brittany-born billionaire and Vivendi chairman, has upped his stake in the French media conglomerate to 20.4%.
Bolloré previously owned 15% of the group, which includes Universal Music Group, Canal Plus Group and Dailymotion. By crossing the 20% threshold, he will be able to double his voting rights in Vivendi to 29% starting next April, as per an upcoming French law.
In the last 24 hours, the company’s share price slightly dipped by 0.30% to 18.35 euros.
Among his recent strategic moves, Bolloré – Vivendi’s chairman since 2014 – has pushed for the group to jump back into the vidgame business, becoming the majority shareholder in online game company Gameloft. Bolloré also took a 22.8 % stake in Ubisoft, the maker of “Assassin’s Creed” and “Splinter Cell.”
Bolloré has also vowed to make Canal Plus Group’s French pay-TV channels profitable again and initiated a significant top-exec shuffle and programming shakeup, even cutting in half the free-to-air window of the group’s flagship channel. Positive results have yet to be observed, however.
Canal Plus will unveil tomorrow a raft of new offers aimed at expanding its subscriber base.
Back in June, Bolloré suggested he was considering stepping down from the supervisory board of Canal Plus and confirmed he will continue to chair Vivendi’s board until Feb. 17, 2022.
Related stories
Vivendi's CanalSat, Telco Free in Carriage Deal as Canal Plus Targets Mass Viewership
Vivendi Becomes Ubisoft's Majority Shareholder, Will Seek Board Representation in 2017
Telefonica, Vivendi Clinch Studio Plus Latin America Distribution Deal
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
