Vivendi

Vivendi executed a corporate fission on December 13, 2024, spinning off Canal+ (pay TV), Louis Hachette Group (publishing), and Havas (advertising) as independent publicly-traded entities while retaining significant stakes and listing them separately in Paris, Amsterdam, and London. Pre-split, Vivendi generated €10.5 billion revenue in 2023; post-split, the parent company retained €297 million revenue in 2024 consisting primarily of holding company activities. This represents fragmentation: a unified organism dividing into separate entities that must now survive independently. The biological analogy is asexual reproduction through fission in flatworms, where a single organism splits into multiple individuals, each regenerating missing structures.

Canal+ (€6.2B revenue pre-split) operates pay-TV across France, Africa, and Asia-Pacific with 26.8 million subscribers, producing French content and acquiring sports rights. The company faces subscriber pressure in France (cord-cutting, streaming competition) but grows in Africa where satellite TV serves populations without broadband. Canal+ expects 2025 revenue to grow organically but faces headwinds from C8 free-to-air channel shutdown and sublicensing contract terminations. Havas (€2.9B net revenue pre-split) operates advertising and marketing services, targeting 2025 net revenue growth above 2% with 12.5-13.5% adjusted EBIT margin. Each entity now competes independently for capital, management talent, and strategic positioning.

The split reflects resource allocation conflicts. Canal+ requires capital for content rights (Premier League, Ligue 1) and African satellite infrastructure; Havas needs acquisitions to compete with WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom; Louis Hachette Group (publishing) demands investment in digital transformation. Within a unified Vivendi, these businesses competed for internal capital allocation. Separating them allows capital markets to price risk independently: Canal+ valued on subscriber growth and content amortization; Havas on advertising market share and margin expansion; Louis Hachette on publishing industry consolidation. Investors who wanted advertising exposure but not pay-TV risk can now buy Havas directly.

Vivendi's 2024 financial results showed €111 million adjusted net income (down from €336M in 2023) after €5.9 billion capital loss on deconsolidation and €140M goodwill impairment on Gameloft mobile gaming. The split created three smaller public companies: Canal+ listed in London targeting international expansion, Havas in Amsterdam competing in global advertising, Louis Hachette in Paris focusing on French/European publishing. Each entity now faces independent competitive pressures. Canal+ competes with Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video; Havas battles WPP and Publicis Groupe; Louis Hachette contends with Penguin Random House and Hachette Livre.

Pre-split Vivendi also owned 10% of Universal Music Group (spun off in 2021 for €22.1B special dividend), demonstrating serial asset separation. The company's evolution—from water utility (Compagnie Générale des Eaux founded 1853) to diversified media conglomerate to asset separator—mirrors how organisms adapt through structural reorganization when unified form no longer optimizes fitness. After the 2024 split, Vivendi retains stakes in Canal+, Havas, and Louis Hachette Group but no longer consolidates their results. The parent company becomes primarily an investment holding vehicle.

This fission strategy assumes that separated entities will achieve higher valuations than the conglomerate discount imposed on diversified media groups. Activist investors historically target conglomerates, arguing sum-of-parts exceeds market cap. Vivendi preempted this pressure by voluntary separation, allowing founding Bolloré family to maintain influence across multiple listed entities. Each spun-off company must now demonstrate independent viability: Canal+ through international subscriber growth, Havas through margin expansion and digital capabilities, Louis Hachette through publishing consolidation. Vivendi's transformation illustrates how corporate structures fragment when unified organization no longer captures synergies sufficient to justify coordination costs.