An imposed separation. Vivendi, which is in the process of absorbing the Lagardère group, will sell the magazine people Gala to comply with European competition rules, according to an internal document consulted Tuesday by AFP, confirming information from the media L'Informer.
"Vivendi is forced to propose the sale of Gala," which the European Commission "considers a direct competitor of Paris Match on the celebrity press market," it is written in an email sent to employees of the Prisma Media group by its president, Claire Léost. Gala is owned by Prisma Media, owned by Vivendi, and Paris Match is owned by Lagardère.
"The teams are stunned, it's a huge waste in our opinion," Emmanuel Vire, an elected member of the SNJ CGT union, told Prisma Media. According to him, the announcement was made during an extraordinary CSE (social and economic committee, the staff representative body) held at 10am. The Gala teams were informed at the same time.
Brussels to vote in June on merger
Vivendi, the group of billionaire Vincent Bolloré, rose in 2022 to 57% of Lagardère's capital after a tough shareholder battle, but the finalization of this takeover is still subject to the green light of the European Commission. The Commission will issue its decision by 14 June at the latest. For the time being, this project mainly stumbles on two points because of European competition rules: the publishing sector on the one hand and that of the celebrity press on the other.
On the first point, Vivendi resolved in mid-March to sell 100% of the publishing group Editis to be able to absorb its rival Hachette, a subsidiary of Lagardère. Regarding the celebrity press, the obstacle is the fact that Vivendi already owns Gala and Voici, via Prisma Media. If its takeover of Lagardère is validated, Paris Match will also fall into its squad.
In 2022, Gala sales fell by 4.72% year-on-year, reaching 127,933 copies in France, according to data from the Alliance for Press and Media Figures (ACPM).
- Entertainment
- Media
- Gala
- Paris Match