Vivendi completes the acquisition of Prisma Media magazines

The group controlled by Vincent Bolloré will buy the titles Télé-Loisirs, Ici, Femme Actuelle, Capital and Gala.

The French media giant Vivendi finalized on Monday the acquisition of the first group of magazine press in France Prisma Media, holder of the titles Télé-Loisirs, Here, Femme Actuelle, Capital or Gala, according to a press release. Vivendi announced on December 23, 2020 the signing of a purchase commitment with respect to Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of German Bertelsmann. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but it would be in the order of 100 to 150 million euros according to the press.

Prisma Media claims to be the leader of the magazine press in France, with around twenty brands and 1,200 employees. But the group was shaken last year, like many newspapers, by the debacle of the press distributor Presstalis.

At the end of April, the Competition Authority gave the green light “unconditionally” to the acquisition, considering that the new entity “will only occupy important positions in a small number of markets (advertising) in the magazine press (games, tourism / discovery and people), without constituting an essential outlet for advertisers “. It had also ruled out any competitive risk linked to the possibility of grouped advertising offers between Prisma Media and the Canal + group, or in pay TV / press offers.

Acquisition of Editis in 2019

Media and publishing are key areas of development for the Vivendi group, controlled by Vincent Bolloré. In 2019, he bought Editis, which in particular owns the Nathan, Robert Laffont and Plon houses. Vivendi, which has a very strong cash flow after the sale of stakes in the main Universal Music Group, is also in a strong position within the Lagardère group, of which it is the largest shareholder, and which owns the publishing house Hachette and the half Paris Match. the JDD and Europe 1.

In Europe, Vivendi is a shareholder of the Spanish group Prisa (El País, Le Monde), and in Italy of the operator Telecom Italia and Mediaset from which it intends to partially withdraw. Finally, he owns the Havas communications group and the mobile video game publisher Gameloft.