Vivendi/Havas deal a fortnight away: Bolloré

Yannick Bolloré, CEO and chairman of Havas Group, said yesterday at Cannes that the US$2.6 billion merger between the advertising agency and French media giant Vivendi is extremely close to completion.

At a press conference at Cannes Lions 2017, Bolloré said the two companies, both controlled by his father Vincent Bolloré, will combine to “create a unique company” that is the largest in the media, entertainment and communications space, with a market capitalisation of €28 billion.

“I would have loved to announce [yesterday] that the deal has closed, but we need to wait, I think, a couple of weeks to get the approval from US and Russian antitrust authorities,” Bolloré said. “We don’t expect any formal issues, but we need to wait two weeks.”

Elaborating on the industry more generally, Bolloré made reference to the number of technology companies and consultancies “taking over the Palais” at Cannes Lions.

While it was great to “see so much talent being creative”, Bolloré said partnering with such a company was not on his agenda because “I don’t believe from a cultural standpoint it really works”.

The new combined company, he said, will have its own unique assets to offer clients, and brands and tech players were already “very excited and looking forward to what can be achieved through our unique partnerships”.