Paris (AFP)
The group is "discussing" with its first shareholder Vivendi who has expressed an interest in marrying the international division of Hachette Livre to its own publishing subsidiary Editis, according to corroborating sources interviewed by AFP, confirming information from BFM Business.
The two groups did not wish to comment officially on these "rumors" and the Arnault Group, owner of a quarter of the Lagardère holding company, did not respond to AFP's requests on Wednesday.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the three parties engaged in a legal and shareholder battle for control of the former industrial and media empire have for a few weeks "started talking to each other again" and "discussing", even if "we are very far from the outcome of the negotiations ".
The media giant Vivendi, controlled by Vincent Bolloré, has expressed its interest in the international hub of Hachette, which represents 71% of the 2.4 billion euros in turnover generated in 2019 by the third largest publisher in the world (owner notably from the Grasset, JC Lattès, Fayard, Stock and Calmann-Lévy houses).
"Vivendi has always wanted to develop content activities" and a marriage with its subsidiary Editis, acquired in 2019, "makes sense", commented to AFP a source close to the Breton magnate.
Limited to international activities, the acquisition would be more likely to obtain the approval of the competition authorities.
Since his entry into the capital of Lagardère at the beginning of the year, Vincent Bolloré was rather reputed to be interested in radio Europe 1 to associate it with the Canal + group, but this project was interrupted following the surprise arrival of the boss of LVMH Bernard Arnault, who came to support Arnaud Lagardère.
In exchange for what would be perceived as a serious blow of a knife in the "integrity" of the two branches of the group that they have undertaken to defend, the two partners could, according to a source, obtain from Vincent Bolloré the commitment to no longer increase in capital (he owns 27% of the shares, at the threshold of a takeover bid), or even to sell his stake.
Arnaud Lagardère could also seize the opportunity to cash in on his status as a general partner (which makes him unbreakable at the head of his group), estimated according to various players in the file at some 10% of the shares, or 250 million euros.
The Lagardère group is due to publish its financial results for the third quarter on Thursday morning.
In the first half of the year, the operational losses of the "Travel Retail" branch, which had been severely affected by the health crisis, were only very partially offset by the publishing activity.
The group also has an appointment on November 26 before the Paris Court of Appeal for the second round of its legal match against Vivendi and the activist fund Amber.
© 2020 AFP