Lagardère nears defeat in the fight for his family empire
If anyone needs a reminder of the French billionaire industrialist Vincent Bolloré’s mastery in corporate battles, look to the latest developments at Lagardère.
Vivendi, which is controlled by Bolloré, announced this week that it would buy out the activist investor Amber Capital’s 17.9 per cent stake in Lagardère as agreed under their surprise alliance.
That paves the way for Vivendi to make a takeover offer for Lagardère (if regulators approve) because the deal with Amber will take its holding to 45 per cent — past the threshold requiring a mandatory offer for the rest of the company.
The moves will effectively end a five-year battle for control of the French media and travel retail group that has captivated the Paris business elite.
Ignore the polite press releases — this is Bolloré delivering the coup de grâce to Arnaud Lagardère. Despite his desperate manoeuvring, the family heir will see the company fall under Vivendi ownership.
We imagine his father, the legendary businessman Jean-Luc Lagardère, who built the defence-to-media conglomerate before his son dismantled most of it, is turning in his grave.
For Amber founder Joseph Oughourlian, the exit will be an honourable end to a bloody saga.
With Vivendi offering €24.10 a share, Amber has made money on its investment in Lagardère. Its cost price for the shares ranges from €15-€20 given that it added to its position last spring, when the pandemic had beaten down the company’s stock price.
Bolloré has also arguably outplayed LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, who came to the rescue of Arnaud Lagardère in 2020 and still owns a roughly 10 per cent stake in the group.
The key moment came in August last year when Bolloré made an alliance with his one-time opponent Amber, which gave him right of first refusal on the activist’s stake when it wanted to exit. People familiar with the matter told the FT’s Leila Abboud that Arnault was first offered a similar deal by Amber last year, but chose not to act.
Perhaps the luxury magnate simply didn’t want the Lagardère assets enough to commit more capital, or he thought his position was secure without Amber. After all, the official story is that Arnault bought into the French group to help the younger Lagardère out of loyalty to Jean-Luc’s memory.
But he was also said to be interested in its media assets — the influential Journal du Dimanche, the celebrity magazine Paris Match and Europe 1 radio. Those titles are on their way to Bolloré’s Vivendi now.
Weaker French media players ought to be looking over their shoulders, the FT’s Lex column warns, as Bolloré’s influence reaches new heights.