Vivendi has confirmed plans to separate its telecom operations from the media and content activities and agreed to name 5 percent shareholder Vincent Bollore its next chairman. Bollore, who is already vice-chair of the supervisory board, will take over from Jean-Rene Fourtou as chairman of the supervisory board after the company completes its demerger plan sometime in the second half of 2014.
The demerger plan is expected to take the form of a distribution of shares in French telecom operator SFR to Vivendi shareholders. The new stock listing for SFR would offer Vivendi shareholder the opportunity to invest in two separate vehicles, valued according to the specifics of their respective sectors, the company said. Vivendi did not say what its plans are for its other telecom activities, such as Brazilian operator GVT. It earlier reached an agreement to sell its 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom to UAE-based Etisalat for EUR 4.2 billion.
Management board chairman Jean-Francois Dubos and SFR chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Charlier will remain on Vivendi’s management board until the demerger. They will be joined on the Vivendi board in early 2014 by the new senior executive vice president, media and content activities, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, currently CEO of Hearst Magazines UK and executive vice president of Hearst Magazines International.
Vivendi’s supervisory board has unanimously approved the demerger plan, first proposed on 11 September. After the split, Vivendi aims to become an international media group, bringing together strong brands in the production and distribution of original content. This group will focus on new ways of consuming digital media in music and video, and will pursue its development in fast-growing and transforming markets. It intends to present further details at a later stage in the demerger process.
