Universal Music Group owner Vivendi has closed the full acquisition of Editis, the second-largest French-language book publishing group after Hachette.
The share purchase was agreed with Spanish group Planeta in November, based on an enterprise value for Editis of €900m ($1.03bn).
The French Competition Authority authorized the deal unconditionally on January 2, 2019.
In a statement, Vivendi said: “This acquisition is a logical step in the building of a large content, media and communications group. It also marks the return of this French publishing powerhouse to a European group with a global reach.”
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Vivendi’s Chief Executive Officer, has taken on the additional role of Chairman of Editis. Pierre Conte has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer of Editis.
Editis owns 50 publishing houses, including Nathan, Robert Laffont, Julliard, Plon, Belfond, Presses de la Cité, Pocket and Solar.
It boasts a large portfolio of authors, publishing 4,000 new books each year.
With a catalog of more than 45,000 titles, Editis is active in the fields of fiction, children’s books, non-fiction, graphic and illustrated books, educational & reference books. Editis employs 2,400 people.
At Vivendi, it joins companies including Universal Music Group, TV network Canal+ and mobile games company Gameloft.
Vivendi is currently seeking a buyer for up to 50% of Universal Music Group, which was recently valued at $33bn by Deutsche Bank.Music Business Worldwide
