Vincent Bolloré appoints son to Vivendi board
Vincent Bolloré has appointed his son to the board of Vivendi, in a move that tightens the French billionaire’s grip on the media group as it looks to become a force in southern Europe.
In a statement late on Wednesday, Vivendi said that Yannick Bolloré, chairman and chief executive of the Bolloré family-controlled Havas advertising group, had been co-opted on to the supervisory board to replace the departing Philippe Donnet.
Last month, Mr Donnet was appointed chief executive of Generali at the Italian insurance group’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Yannick Bolloré’s appointment comes as his father ratchets up his control over Vivendi, having become its chairman in 2014 and increased his personal stake to 14.4 per cent from just 5 per cent a few years ago.
It also coincides with an intense period of dealmaking at Vivendi as the group, which owns Universal Music Group and the Canal Plus film and television unit, looks to extend its influence beyond French borders.
News of the board change accompanied Vivendi’s quarterly results, which showed that adjusted net profit during the first three months of 2016 was down 27.3 per cent year-on-year, at €99m, but broadly in line with analysts’ consensus forecasts.
Revenues during the period reached €2.49bn, a shade below the level analysts had expected, on average, and 1.4 per cent below the figure from a year earlier, in comparable terms.
Vivendi reported “strong growth” in music streaming and subscriptions at UMG but said that Canal Plus’s French TV channels were finding trading conditions “difficult”.
In a statement after the market close, Yannick Bolloré said he was “delighted to have the chance to support the group in its ambitious plan to redevelop its content and media”.
Last month, in a clear sign of Mr Bolloré senior’s strategic plans, Vivendi agreed to take a 3.5 per cent stake in Italy’s Mediaset and full control of the Italian broadcaster’s pay-television business.
Analysts saw the move as an attempt to take the fight to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Empire, which last year united its businesses across the UK, Italy, Germany, Ireland and Austria as a single group.
Vivendi has also built a 24.9 per cent stake in Telecom Italia over the past year or so, becoming the Italian operator’s biggest shareholder.