Vivendi’s long-brewing acquisition of Lagardère appears headed to completion. Late last week, the European Commission approved the deal, which will see one French conglomerate acquire another. Vivendi’s properties include the French book publisher Editis, while Lagardère is the owner of Hachette Livre, whose subsidiaries include Hachette Book Group, as well as a large travel business.
In order to win approval for the Lagardère purchase, Vivendi agreed to divest the French publishing group Editis, which it bought in 2019, and has reached a preliminary agreement to sell the publisher to International Media Invest. Vivendi also agreed to sell Gala magazine, and reported that the publication “has already attracted significant interest.” Vivendi said it is confident that it can finalize the two transactions by the end of October. Vivendi has held a 57% stake in Lagardère since a public tender offer held last year.
Once the acquisition of Lagardère is completed, Vivendi’s employee count will rise to 66,000 employees, compared to 38,000 at the end of December 2022. The acquisition will give the company a stronger presence in France, Spain, the U.K, and the U.S. Annual revenues are projected to reach approximately €17 billion based on 2022 results, compared to around €10 billion today.
In a release, Vivendi said that the acquisition “will align with the Group’s strategic objective to expand its international presence and will enable it to become the world’s third-largest publisher in the trade and educational markets while also integrating a new and rapidly growing activity, travel retail.” Vivendi also promised that Lagardère’s “integrity will be preserved,” with Arnaud Lagardère continuing to serve as chairman and CEO.
Vivendi’s current holdings include assets in television and movies (Canal+ Group), communications (Havas), publishing (Editis), magazines (Prisma Media), video games (Gameloft), and live entertainment and ticketing (Vivendi Village). It also owns the global digital content distribution platform Dailymotion.
