Vincent Bolloré Moves to Strengthen Grip at Vivendi

PARIS—Vincent Bolloré , chairman and largest shareholder of Vivendi SA, moved to tighten his grip on the European media group on Wednesday by nominating his son, Yannick, to its board.

Yannick Bolloré , one of Mr. Bolloré 's four children, would replace outgoing board member Philippe Donnet, with his nomination to be submitted to Vivendi's next shareholder meeting for ratification, the company said in a news release Wednesday.

Yannick, who will remain chief executive of Havas SA, a French advertising group majority-owned by Bolloré 's family holding company, has been credited by analysts with helping Havas to post sales growth above the industry average in recent years, boosted by a drive to make its creative, public relations and media planning arms work more closely together.

The move further solidifies the influence of Mr. Bolloré at Vivendi after he took less than two years to effectively take control of the company following his purchase of a small stake in 2012. He now owns a 14.5% stake in Vivendi.

Mr. Bolloré is known as one of France's savviest but most unpredictable businessmen and has pledged to foster closer cooperation between Vivendi's units to create an industrial integrated content group with a focus on Southern Europe.

In recent months, he has shaken up its French pay-TV unit Canal Plus and put a multibillion-dollar cash chest to work, buying large stakes in Telecom Italia SpA and two French videogame companies,Ubisoft SA and Gameloft SE.

Yannick Bolloré 's appointment came as Vivendi's reported declining first-quarter profit as its pay-TV unit Canal Plus continued to lose money in its home market of France.

Vivendi said its adjusted earnings dropped 27.3% to €99 million ($87 million) due also to an unfavorable tax impact linked to a one-off payment made to Liberty Global to settle a dispute over a 2001 transaction.

First-quarter revenue fell 1.4% to €2.4 billion on a like-for-like basis, while earnings before interest, taxes and amortization fell 2.5% to €213 million, with a rise in core earnings at Canal Plus failing to offset a 4% drop at Universal Music Group.

Write to Nick Kostov at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2016 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)

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