Vivendi has made a two-year commitment to the European Commission not to plunder the catalog of authors of Editis, the publishing group it is in the process of selling, the daily La Lettre A said on Wednesday.
The daily says it has consulted "
a document of around fifty pages, transmitted on April 5 to the Commission's competition services
", on proposals made to facilitate the acquisition of Editis' rival, Hachette Livre (Lagardère group ).
Vivendi undertakes not to solicit "
directors of publishing houses Robert Laffont, Plon, Perrin, Belfond and authors contractually bound by a publishing contract
" to Editis to join Hachette "
for a period of two years
”.
This includes authors like Marc Levy, Stéphane Bern, Philippe de Villiers or Christine Taubira.
Read alsoEditis: Daniel Kretinsky has submitted an offer to buy 100% of the publishing group
Upcoming takeover?
A commitment also concerns three executives of Editis.
According to La Lettre A, "
it would be the general manager, Michèle Benbunan, the financial director, Laurent Mairot, and the director of industrial operations, François Lieutard
", who can neither be hired nor "
communicate the slightest information commercial for a period of 18 months after the closing of the takeover bid
.
Vivendi, which took a majority stake in Lagardère and therefore Hachette Livre in 2022, does not control the group, pending the settlement of competition issues, including the sale of Editis.
Abandoning a complex “ listing-distribution
” project
where its shareholders were to become those of Editis, Vivendi changed its mind and began exclusive negotiations in March to sell 100%.
The takeover candidate is Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his holding company CMI.
If these negotiations are successful, he should pay a much lower amount than the 829 million euros paid by Vincent Bolloré for Editis in 2019.
