Paris, 13 February 2013

Vivendi vigorously contests Lagardère claims

 

Vivendi announced that a complaint has been filed with the Paris Commercial Court by Lagardère Holding TV, a subsidiary of Lagardère, a 20% shareholder of Canal+ France. Lagardère claims that the cash management agreement concluded between Canal+ France and its parent company Canal+ Group, a 100% subsidiary of Vivendi, is null and void because it is a related party agreement that was not previously approved by the Supervisory Board. Lagardère therefore demands restitution, under penalty, from Canal+ Group, of the entire cash surplus that Canal+ France has given over under the agreement – an amount of €1,603,872,436.

Vivendi formally denies the allegations of the Lagardère group as to the nature of this cash agreement, which is an ordinary course agreement under normal conditions, and which does not require prior approval from the Supervisory Board of Canal+ France.

Vivendi is even more surprised by this claim since Lagardère TV Holding expressly approved this agreement during the creation of Canal+ France in 2007. Lagardère has never, until now, challenged this when under renewal by tacit agreement. In addition, the statutory auditors of Canal+ France have considered from the outset that the cash management agreement is not a regulated agreement.

The Group considers that this is an attempt by the Lagardère Group to destabilize Vivendi and force it to buy back the former’s stake in Canal+ France.

Vivendi does not intend to be intimidated by such abusive maneuvering which negatively impacts its image and will exercise its rights. The Group has asked its lawyers to file complaints of abuse of legal process and will also seek damages, which it is currently evaluating.

 

About Vivendi

Vivendi is at the hearts of the worlds of content, platforms and interactive networks. Vivendi combines the world leader in video games (Activision Blizzard), the world leader in music (Universal Music Group), the French leader in alternative telecoms (SFR), the Moroccan leader in telecoms (Maroc Telecom Group), the leading alternative broadband operator in Brazil (GVT) and the French leader in pay-TV (Canal+ Group). In 2011, Vivendi achieved revenues of €28.8 billion and adjusted net income of €2.95 billion. The Group has over 58,300 employees. www.vivendi.com

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