PARIS (Reuters) – Vivendi on Saturday said it planned to distribute 60% of Universal Music’s capital to investors, subject to shareholder approval, and aimed to list their most prized assets, home for singers such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, with the end of the year.
The plan to list Universal represents part of a process put in place by Vincent Bollore, Vivendi’s chief French shareholder, to raise money for the revival of the music industry.
“Vivendi’s major institutional shareholders have been pushing for several years for the separation or dissolution of Universal Music Group (UMG) to reduce Vivendi’s conglomerate discount,” Vivendi said in a statement.
The French conglomerate said the distribution would be in the form of a specific separation.
UMG, a Dutch-owned real estate company, is applying to be listed on Euronext in Amsterdam.
The deal has received a favorable response from the consortium led by China tech group Tencent, which now controls 20% of UMG, after buying the bet in two consecutive waves that added value. on UMG at 30 billion euros ($ 36.35 billion), Vivendi said.
Vivendi said it would hold an extraordinary meeting of shareholders on March 29 to change the company’s bylaws and make the distribution possible.
In addition, Vivendi is proposing a 0.60 euro circulation per share for its fiscal year 2020 at a shareholders ’meeting scheduled for June 22nd.
($ 1 = 0.8252 euros)
Reciting with Dominique Vidalon. Edited by Jane Merriman