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 Logo used since 2006 | |
 Vivendi's headquarters inParis | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
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| ISIN | FR0000127771  |
| Industry | Investment |
| Founded | 14 December 1853; 171 years ago (1853-12-14) |
| Founder | Napoleon III[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Revenue |  €10.5 billion[2] (2023) |
| €0.93 billion[2] (2023) | |
 €0.72 billion[2] (2023) | |
| Total assets | €38.3 billion[2] (2023) |
| Total equity | €17.1 billion[2] (2023) |
| Owner | Bolloré (27% equity, 30% voting power) |
Number of employees | 73,000[2] (2023) |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | vivendi.com |
Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a Frenchinvestment company headquartered inParis. It wholly-ownsGameloft as well as investments in companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and telecommunications.
In 2000,Vivendi Universal was created from the merger ofGroupe Canal+ andSeagram Company Ltd., owner ofUniversal Studios. Vivendi sold 80% of Universal to the later-defunctGeneral Electric (GE, owner ofNBC) in 2004, forming what isNBCUniversal. In 2006, it sold off most of the Universal components and its name reverted to Vivendi. GE bought out Vivendi's 20% stake in NBCUniversal duringComcast'sacquisition of the latter. As of 2021[update], Vivendi's chairmanYannick Bolloré is also CEO ofHavas, which was spun off from Vivendi in 2000, later became a subsidiary, and was spun off again in 2024.
From 2021, Vivendi has spun off its fully owned assets in order to become an investment company. The process started with the floating of 60% ofUniversal Music Group, the world's largest music business and owned since the creation of Vivendi Universal. In 2024, this process concluded with the spin-off of three of its other fully owned assets into three companies:Canal+ (entertainment),Havas (advertising), andLouis Hachette Group (publishing, distribution, and travel retail). Other investments include stakes inBanijay andMediaForEurope.
On 14 December 1853, a water company namedCompagnie générale des eaux (CGE) was created by an imperial decree ofNapoleon III.[1] In 1854, CGE obtained a concession in order to supply water to the public inLyon, serving in that capacity for over a hundred years. In 1861, it obtained a 50-year concession with theCity of Paris.[3] CGE also supplied water toNantes,Venice (from 1880),Istanbul (from 1882) andPorto (from 1883).[1]
Following the appointment ofGuy Dejouany as CEO in 1976, CGE extended its activities into other sectors with a series of takeovers.[1] Beginning in 1980, CGE began diversifying from water into waste management, energy, transport services, andconstruction and property. It acquired theCompagnie générale d'entreprises automobiles (CGEA), specialized in industrial vehicles, which was later divided into two branches:Connex (later Veolia Transport) in 1999 andOnyx Environnement (later Veolia Environmental Services) in 1989.[4] CGE then acquired theCompagnie générale de chauffe, and the Montenay group, with these companies later becoming the Energy Services division of CGE, and later renamed "Dalkia" in 1998.[4]
In 1983, CGE helped to foundCanal+, the firstpay-TV channel in France, and in the 1990s began expanding into telecommunications andmass media, especially afterJean-Marie Messier succeededGuy Dejouany on 27 June 1996, acquiring companies such as theBabelsberg Studio.[citation needed] In 1996, CGE createdNeuf Cegetel to take advantage of the 1998 deregulation of the French telecommunications market, accelerating the move into the media sector which would culminate in the 2000 demerger into Vivendi Universal and Vivendi Environnement (Veolia).[5][better source needed]
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On 27 March 1998, days after agreeing to fully acquireHavas,[6][7] Compagnie Générale des Eaux announced it was changing its name toVivendi.[8] In 2000, it sold off its property and construction divisions the following year to what would becomeVinci SA. Vivendi went on to acquire stakes in or merge withCendant Software,[9][10] Grupo Anaya, andMaroc Telecom. Beginning in 1998, Vivendi launched digital channels in Italy, Spain, Poland, Scandinavia, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
In June 1999, Vivendi merged withPathé, and the exchange ratio for the merger was fixed at three Vivendi shares for every two Pathé shares.The Wall Street Journal estimated the value of the deal at US$2.59 billion. Following the completion of the merger, Vivendi retained Pathé's interests inBritish Sky Broadcasting Group PLC and CanalSatellite, a French broadcasting corporation, then sold all remaining assets to Jérôme Seydoux's family-owned holding company,Fornier SA, which changed its name to Pathé.
On 9 December 2000, Vivendi acquiredGroupe Canal+, the French television network and film production company.[11] On 11 December 2000, Vivendi Universal was created from the merger of Groupe Canal+, Canadian companySeagram Company Ltd (owner ofUniversal Studios), and Vivendi.[12]
Vivendi Universal acquiredMP3.com and the leading American publisherHoughton Mifflin in 2001. To raise the funds, Vivendi Universal sold its trade and medical publishing businesses to a group led byCinven.[13][14]
Vivendi Environnement was formed in 1999 by Vivendi to consolidate its environmental divisions, which wereCGEA Transport,Onyx Environnement (now Veolia Environmental Services),Dalkia and CGE water division. As a result, CGEA Transport was renamed Connex (later Veolia Transport), and CGE's water division was renamed Vivendi Water (nowVeolia Water).[4] In July 2000, Vivendi Environnement was divested throughIPOs in Paris and later New York in October 2001. Initially, Vivendi Universal retained a 70% stake in Vivendi Environnement in 2000, but by December 2002, it was reduced to 20.4%.[15] In 2003, Vivendi Environnement was renamed to Veolia Environnement.
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Vivendi Universal disclosed a corporate loss of €23.3 billion in its 2002 annual report. It responded with financial reshuffling, trying to shore up media holdings while selling off shares in itsspin-off companies. Amid intense media scrutiny, its chairman and CEO,Jean-Marie Messier (who had overseen the most dramatic phase of the company's diversification), was subsequently replaced by Jean-René Fourtou. Messier was found guilty of embezzlement in 2011, but not before he was paid over US$20 million as part of his severance package. The company reduced its stake inVivendi Environnement to 40% and sold its stake inVinci SA.[16][17] The company then began reorganizing to stave offbankruptcy, announcing a strategy to sell non-strategic assets. Its largest single shareholder was the family ofEdgar Bronfman Jr., who was head of Seagram at the time of the merger. Vivendi sold its stake inVizzavi toVodafone, with the exception of Vizzavi France.[18] It also sold 20.4% of Vivendi Environnement's capital to a group of investors, and its stake in North American satellite operatorEchoStar Communications Corporation. It also sold its European book publishing toLagardère.[19][20] It also sold Houghton Mifflin to Thomas H Lee,Blackstone andBain consortium for US$1.66 billion.[21][22] Also, in 2002, Vivendi Universal sold the Belgian and Dutch activities of its subsidiary Scoot Europe to Kapitol, the parent company of online directoryInfobel.[23]
In 2003, Vivendi Universal sold Canal+ Technologies toThomson SA;[24] Tele+ toNews Corporation andTelecom Italia.[25] It also sold its 26.3% interest inXfera. Also in 2003, it sold its consumer magazines toSocpresse and its free newspapers toFrance Antilles.[26] On 1 December, Vivendi Universal closed a deal to sellMP3.com toCNET.[27] Despite predictions that it would be unable to raise the cash needed, Vivendi Universal bought out one of the two minority shareholders in Cegetel, taking its holding to 60 percent, with Vodafone holding the remaining 40 percent. Management viewed the mobile communications firm as a core asset once the bulk of media assets had been sold off.[28][citation needed]
On 12 May 2004, 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (owner ofUniversal Studios) was sold toGeneral Electric (owner of National Broadcasting Company, Inc.) to formNBC Universal; GE held an 80% stake while Vivendi held a 20% stake in the new company.[29] At the same time, it sold a 50% stake inCanal+ andStudioCanal to the new company. Vivendi also sold its interests in Kencell (re-branded Celtel, Kenya),Monaco Telecom andSportfive (which it held through Canal+ Group), and soldNewsworld International to the business partnership ofJoel Hyatt and formerVice-President of the United StatesAl Gore. Vivendi also soldBabelsberg Studio.[citation needed]
On 16 December 2005, it was announced that Canal Plus would merge withTPS, France's second largest pay-TV provider. Vivendi owned 85% of the combined entity.[needs update]
On 17 January 2006, Vivendi Universal announced it would end itsAmerican Depositary Receipt program and its listing on theNew York Stock Exchange by the end of the second quarter of 2006, due to lowered trading volume on its shares and high costs.[30] On 20 April, the company announced that shareholders had approved the name change to "Vivendi".[31] In August, Vivendi signed a deal withSpiralfrog to distribute Vivendi's songs online in the United States and Canada.[citation needed]
On 2 December 2007, Vivendi announced that it would be mergingits game publishing unit withActivision in a$18.8 billion deal.[32][33] This will allow the merged company,Activision Blizzard, to rivalElectronic Arts, the world's biggest video game publisher.[33] The merger closed on 9 July 2008, for $9.8 billion. Vivendi held a 52% majority stake in the new business.[citation needed]
On 8 September 2009, Vivendi announced negotiations to buy the Brazilian phone operatorGlobal Village Telecom (GVT).[34] Vivendi took control of GVT at a cost of 56 reais per share, on 13 November, trumpingTelefónica's bid.[35] Geneva-based Crédit des Alpes was the investment bank to the transaction, originating the acquisition proposal and advising GVT's majority shareholders.[36]
On 3 December 2009, GE announced it would purchase Vivendi's stake in NBC Universal, which would become a joint venture between GE andComcast.[37] Vivendi sold its stake in NBC Universal on 25 January 2011.
On 4 April 2011, Vodafone sold its 44% stake in French mobile service providerSFR to Vivendi for about $11 billion[38] and giving Vivendi full control of its largest unit.[39]
In 2012, Vivendi announced having entered a strategic review of its assets and decided to refocus its activities on media and content activities while maximizing its telecoms assets.[citation needed]
On 25 July 2013, Activision Blizzard announced the buyout of 429 million shares from Vivendi for $5.83 billion, dropping the shareholder from a 63% stake to 11.8% by the end of the deal in September, ending Vivendi's majority ownership of Activision Blizzard.[citation needed] In November, Vivendi also sold its 53% stake inMaroc Telecom toDubai-basedEtisalat for around $4.2 billion.[40] Vivendi also confirmed in November 2013 its intention to launch a demerger plan which would result in Vivendi becoming an international media group consisting primarily of Canal+, Universal Music Group, and GVT, while SFR would be listed separately on the stock market. As a result of the foregoing, Vivendi group results for the first semester of 2014 are in a strong growth, witnessing the success of its repositioning strategy. Net income was up 84,8% to €1.9 billion.[41] In August 2014 Vivendi sells GVT toTelefônica Vivo, a subsidiary ofTelefónica in Brazil.[citation needed]
The moves allowed Vivendi to pay down debt and increase cash returns to shareholders while leaving it able to do acquisitions of its own. After SFR deal closes, Vivendi was expected to have around €5 billion, leaving it with some room to maneuver even after it pays down debt and returns nearly €5 billion in dividends and share buybacks to shareholders.[42]
In 2014, Vivendi decided to sell mobile companiesSFR (France) toPatrick Drahi's company,Altice,[43] andGVT (Brazil) to the Brazilian companyTelefônica Vivo.[44] On 28 May, Vivendi sold half of its remaining shares (nearly 41.5 million shares) in Activision Blizzard for $850 million, reducing its stake to 6%.[45]
In April 2015, it was announced that a shareholder in the companyBolloré raised its stake from 10.2 percent to 12.01 percent for a total fee of €568 million.[46] In 2015, Vivendi bought 80% share inDailymotion.[47] According to the Wall Street Journal, the "French media group offered around $273 million for streaming service".[48] Vivendi was in talks with Orange, to Buy 80% stake in Dailymotion. Also, Vivendi announced extra payouts in compromise with P. Schoenfeld Asset Management shareholder.[49] It was revealed in October 2015 that Vivendi would increase its stake inTelecom Italia to around 19% of the ordinary share capital as part of its aims to increase its influence in the group.[50][51] As of May 2017, Vivendi owns 24.6% of the company with Vivendi's CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine becoming Executive Chairman of Telecom Italia.[52] In October, Vivendi bought minority stakes in the French video game studiosGameloft andUbisoft.[53] On 17 December 2015, Vivendi acquired a 64.4% majority stake in Belgian online radio aggregatorRadionomy (including its media player platformWinamp and internet radio streaming softwareShoutcast). Its shareholders, including its employees and American-based investment firmUnion Square Ventures, however, retained their stakes in the company.[54]
In June 2016, after having triggered a mandatorytender offer in February 2016 by reaching 30% ownership, and then becoming its largest shareholder, Vivendi completed ahostile takeover of Gameloft with the acquisition of its founders' stake. At the same time, Vivendi also further increased its stake in Ubisoft, which had led to concern from the company's management that Vivendi was also planning a hostile takeover of Ubisoft, however as of 2018 Vivendi is no longer in the position to do so.[55][56][57] Vivendi (once the owner ofBlizzard, later Activision Blizzard),[58] searching for a new games publisher property has started investing in bothUbisoft andGameloft.[59] The brothers in charge of Ubisoft and Gameloft, Yves Guillemot and Michel Guillemot[60] respectively, view the investments as a hostile takeover attempt,[61][62] and are raising capital from within the family[63] and from Canadian investors[64] to maintain control of the companies. As of 8 June 2016, Vivendi has acquired a controlling stake in Gameloft. In news from 11 September 2016 Yves Guillemot is set to buy an additional 3.5% of Ubisoft shares to raise his stake to 12.5% to attempt to block a takeover from Vivendi. Yves has been attempting to lobby other shareholders to prevent them from selling their shares to Vivendi.[65] As of 20 March 2018, Vivendi has sold all its shares in Ubisoft andTencent has bought in in their place.[66] In an auction on 6 June, Vivendi won a bid to acquire Flavorus fromSFX Entertainment for $4 million.[67] Also that month, it acquired Paddington and Company Limited-owner ofPaddington Bear and other properties, and The Copyrights Group. Vivendi declared that it owned 12.3% ofMediaset in December 2016.[68] In September 2020, Vivendi owns 28.8% of Mediaset.[69] In January 2019, Vivendi completed its €900 million acquisition ofEditis, one of France's major book publishers.[70]
In 2019, Vivendi acquired Nigeria's film studio ROK Studios which included its linear channels and VOD service, IROKO+.[71]
At the end of the first quarter of 2020, Vivendi completed a partial sale ofUniversal Music Group (UMG) to a consortium led byTencent, a Chinese media conglomerate. The amount of stake of the world's largestrecord label group that has been sold to the consortium is 10% and the valuation of which was $3.3 billion. The Tencent-led consortium retained an option to purchase another 10% at the same valuation until January 2021, which they opted to exercise in December 2020.[72]Pershing Square Holdings later acquired 10% of UMG prior to itsIPO on theEuronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on 21 September 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.[73][74] In April, Vivendi bought a 10.6% stake inLagardère Group, another French media group, the assets of which include the world's third-largest book publisherHachette.[75] By August 2020, Vivendi had doubled its stake in Lagardère to 23.5%, becoming the largest shareholder of the rival group.[76] In October, Vivendi acquired a 12% stake in South Africa's media company,MultiChoice.[77] In December, Vivendi announced a deal to buy the French media conglomerate Prisma Media fromBertelsmann.[78] In January 2021, Vivendi bought a 9.9% stake in the Spanish media conglomeratePrisa.[79][80]
In September 2021, Vivendi distributed 60% of its UMG shares to shareholders and retained 10% of shares in an IPO atEuronext Amsterdam.[73] Amber Capital informed Vivendi of its intention to sell all its shares in Lagardère (17.93 of the share capital) and invited Vivendi to make an acquisition offer. Vivendi has acquired Amber Capital's shares for 24.1 euros per share. The transaction will be completed by 15 December 2022, after gaining the approvals required by the current regulations in light of the takeover that could result from the mandatory public offer following this acquisition.[81] In December 2021, Vivendi announced its plan to accelerate the purchase of Amber's stake in Lagardère.[82] As of June 2022[update], Vivendi owns 57.3% of Lagardère following the latter's IPO.[83] Vivendi offered to divest the book publisherEditis, as Lagardère already ownsHachette.[84]
In July 2022, Vivendi announced its plan to spin off Editis, anticipating the European competition regulators not to allow Editis and Lagardère Publishing to merge.[84] In June 2023, Vivendi agreed to sell Editis to Czech billionaireDaniel Křetínský's Czech Media Invest.[85] In July 2023, Vivendi announced that Prisma Media entered into exclusive negotiations with Groupe Figaro for the sale of Gala magazine.[86] The transactions for Editis and Gala magazine were finalized in November 2023.[87][88]
On 13 December 2023, Vivendi announced that it was studying a split project to separate its three businesses, Canal+, Havas and its publishing unit (including its stake in Lagardère and Prisma Media) as well as Gameloft and its investments in other companies (Universal Music Group, TIM, MFE, Banijay, Prisa, Telefonica) into four separate companies.[89] On 30 January 2024, the company's supervisory board approved the split project.[90][91] On 22 July 2024, Vivendi announced that the publishing company post-split would becomeLouis Hachette Group while Canal+ and Havas would be listed on theLondon Stock Exchange andEuronext Amsterdam respectively while LHG would trade on Euronext Paris. Canal+ would retain its French corporate status.[92][93] On 29 October 2024, the company's supervisory board approved the split plan. Vivendi would retain its listing on the Euronext Paris and would continue its operations as an investment company.[94] On 9 December 2024, Vivendi's shareholders approved the split project.[95] The spin-off companies started trading on 16 December 2024.[96]
The official name of the company is Vivendi SE (Societas Europaea). The headquarters are located at 42 Avenue Friedland, 75008 Paris.[97]
As of 31 December 2024, Vivendi is owned by:[98]
As of 8 October 2025, the board is composed of the following:[99]
Vivendi is a company primarily focused on digital entertainment. It currently owns the French video game companyGameloft.
Vivendi's presidentVincent Bolloré, appointed in June 2014, aims at developing synergies between the company's subsidiaries now refocused on media: Gameloft.[101]
In July 2016, Vivendi completed its takeover ofGameloft,[102] the world's largest mobile-games publisher in terms of downloads. Gameloft reported that their games had amassed over 1 billion downloads in 2016.[103]
In July 2024, Vivendi was alleged byReporters Without Borders (RWB) to have been involved in adisinformation campaign against RWB.[104] On 13 February 2024, in response to a request lodged by RWB, theConseil d'État orderedCNews, part of the Vivendi group, to better respect journalistic standards and diversity. The February order by the Conseil d'État was followed by an intense disinformation campaign ofhate speech against RWB. In July 2024, RWB published the results of its investigation into the disinformation campaign. Its findings included a fake website pretending to be run by RWB hosted on a server hosting "Fan de CNews", a fansite supporting CNews. The website was run by what RWB states is a disinformation agency called Progressif Media, hosted at Vivendi. The main investigator, Arnaud Froger, stated that Progressif Media used "counterfeiting, concealment, cybersquatting [and] trolling" as disinformation techniques against RWB.[104]
The Guillemont family is attempting to prevent a takeover attempt from Vivendi
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