(Bloomberg) -- Yannick Bolloré, French billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s son, will be chairman of three of Vivendi SE’s four units when the French media conglomerate is split later this year.
The younger Bolloré — already chairman of Vivendi’s supervisory board and advertising group Havas — will take the same role at pay-TV company Canal+ if the plan is approved by shareholders in a Dec. 9 meeting to vote on the split, Vivendi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Yannick Bolloré, 44, has spent the bulk of his career in the media businesses controlled by his father, and has run Havas for the last decade. He’ll take a prominent position overseeing the group as Vivendi splits itself into four to address what the company has described as a “conglomerate discount” on its shares.
Yannick’s brother, Cyrille Bolloré, has been the head of the group’s controlling shareholder, Bollore SE. He doesn’t have a direct role in the Vivendi businesses. Vincent Bolloré, 72, is officially retired from Vivendi, but is chief executive officer of Compagnie de l’Odet SA, which owns the majority of Bollore SE.
On Dec. 16, Canal+ is set to list in London, ads business Havas in Amsterdam, and publishing business Louis Hachette Group will sell shares in Paris. The remaining Vivendi business will remain listed in Paris and manage the firm’s investments in Universal Music Group NV and Telecom Italia SpA.
For each Vivendi share held, eligible investors will receive one Canal+ share, one Havas share and one Louis Hachette share, while retaining their Vivendi shares, the company said.
On the day of the spinoff, Vivendi will have a net debt of €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion), Havas and Louis Hachette will have no debt. Canal+ will have a net debt of approximately €400 million, of which €225 million is related to its investment in South African broadcaster and streaming service MultiChoice, the group said.
Vivendi shares were little changed in Paris trading at 9:26 a.m. The stock has gained 7% this year.
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