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Investing.com -- France’s financial regulator has ordered Bollore SA (EPA:BOLL) and Vincent Bolloré to launch a public withdrawal offer for Vivendi SA (EPA:VIV) within six months, dealing a setback to the billionaire media mogul who holds sway over the company.
Vivendi shares surged over 10% in Paris trading on Friday following the announcement.
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) said the move stems from Vivendi’s decision last year to split into four separate entities.
According to the regulator, that restructuring should have triggered a mandatory offer to buy out remaining shareholders.
With most of the breakup already completed, the offer must now be made for the remaining Vivendi entity, which has a market capitalization of €3.24 billion ($3.8 billion).
The decision marks a win for activist investor CIAM, which had challenged the breakup as favoring Bolloré SE—Vivendi’s largest shareholder—at the expense of minority investors. Should a sufficient number of shareholders accept the offer, Vivendi could be taken private.
Vivendi’s dismantling has been one of the most significant and unexpected restructurings within the Bolloré group, aimed at narrowing the group’s conglomerate discount and strengthening control over its holdings.
In April, a Paris court ruled that Vincent Bolloré exerts effective control over Vivendi through his holding company, Bolloré SE, and influences the outcomes of shareholder meetings. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by France’s markets regulator from last November.
Bolloré has appealed the court’s decision, and any public withdrawal offer will remain open until the appeal is resolved.