PARIS (Reuters) – Vivendi said on Saturday it plans to distribute 60% of Universal Music’s capital to investors, subject to shareholder approval, and intends to list its valued asset to singers such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, by the end of the year.
The plan to list Universal is part of a process launched by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, Vivendi’s largest shareholder, to raise money for the revival of the music industry.
“Vivendi’s leading institutional shareholders have been urging for a number of years for a split or distribution of Universal Music Group (UMG) to reduce Vivendi’s conglomerate discount,” Vivendi said in a statement.
The French conglomerate said the distribution would take the form of a special dividend.
UMG, a holding company currently in the Netherlands, will apply for a listing on Euronext in Amsterdam.
The deal received a favorable response from the consortium led by Chinese technology group Tencent, which now controls 20% of UMG, after buying the stake in two consecutive waves that cost UMG 30 billion euros ($ 36.35 billion). ) valued, Vivendi said.
Vivendi said it would hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on March 29 to amend the company’s bylaws and make the distribution possible.
In addition, Vivendi will propose a dividend of 0.60 euros per share for its 2020 financial year at a shareholders’ meeting scheduled for 22 June.
($ 1 = 0.8252 euros)
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon. Edited by Jane Merriman