PARIS (Reuters) – Vivendi said on Saturday it intends to distribute 60% of Universal Music’s capital to investors, subject to shareholder approval, and aims to list its most valued asset, home to singers such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, by end of the year.
The plan to list Universal is part of a lawsuit launched by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, Vivendi’s largest shareholder, to cash in on the music industry.
“Vivendi’s main institutional shareholders have been pushing for several years for a split or distribution of Universal Music Group (UMG) to reduce the decline of the Vivendi conglomerate,” Vivendi said in a statement.
The French conglomerate said the distribution would take the form of a special dividend.
UMG, a holding company currently based in the Netherlands, will request a listing on Euronext in Amsterdam.
The transaction 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 successive waves that valued UMG at 30 billion euros ($ 36.35 billion). ), said Vivendi.
Vivendi said it would hold a special shareholders’ meeting on March 29 to change the company’s status and make distribution possible.
In addition, Vivendi will propose the distribution of a dividend of 0.60 euros per share for fiscal year 2020 at a shareholders’ meeting scheduled for June 22.
($ 1 = € 0.8252)
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon. Editing by Jane Merriman