Vivendi Bids to Increase Lagardère Stake

Amber Capital has accepted a proposal to sell its Lagardère shares to Vivendi, paving the way for a full takeover.

Vivendi made an offer to purchase the 25,305,448 Lagardère shares held by Amber Capital, representing 17.93 percent of the share capital and 14.34 percent of the theoretical voting rights of Lagardère. Amber Capital has accepted the proposal. It is now waiting on approval.

The new deal would push Vivendi’s holding in Lagardère above 30 percent, triggering a requirement to bid for the rest of the business under French law.

Olivier Fortesa, managing partner of Amber Capital, said: “This sale marks the culmination of a long process and investment strategy where goals have been achieved in terms of governance and key strategic choices, for the investor and reference shareholder that we have been. The future belongs to another type of shareholding, an industrial one, that will devote itself to the development of the group. We wish the Lagardère Group all possible success.”

Joseph Oughourlian, managing partner and founder of Amber Capital, added: “We are delighted with this transaction and are proud of having come this far. We have full confidence in the ability of Vivendi, as one of the largest French industrial players, to continue the development of the group in all its activities and therefore allow Lagardère to become one of the world leaders in the publishing and travel retail sectors.”