Vivendi announced its intention to acquire 100% of French publishing house, Prisma Media Publications, from Germany’s Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann agreed to purchase publisher Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion from ViacomCBS last month with the intention of growing its presence in the United States.
Vivendi’s (UK:0IIF) acquisition of Prisma is still in the consultation phase with the relevant employee representative groups, and legal documents have yet to be finalized.
Billionaire Vincent Bollore, Vivendi’s main shareholder, said of Prisma Media that it was France’s number one press publishing company. It reaches more than 42 million French people every month through the group’s various brands in print, digital and mobile.
Vivendi already owns multiple complementary assets in some of the most popular forms of entertainment content in the world, including music, movies, publishing and gaming.
Prisma would be a perfect addition to Vivendi’s existing business and would allow for interesting opportunities for cooperation and development of the business moving forward, management stated. (See Vivendi stock analysis on TipRanks)
J.P. Morgan analyst Daniel Kerven reiterated his Buy rating on the stock last week with a price target of €38, (48% upside potential). He noted that a share buy-back program could affect price developments in the first half of next year more than fundamental factors.
Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 8 Buys and 1 Hold. The average price target of €30.90 implies a potential upside of around 20% over the next 12 months.
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