Canal+ is developing a series on Marie-Antoinette, France’s best-known royal, as well as one based on Italian comic-book character Corto Maltese. Paddington Bear — the fictional bear from Peru created by British writer Michael Bond whose rights were acquired by Vivendi in 2016 — has been one of the group’s superstars. Like many Disney creatures, the fluffy bear has turned into a money spinner for Vivendi, with feature films, music scores, books, games and communication campaigns — it even became an attraction at a German theme park.
Over the last few years, Bollore has accelerated media purchases, seeking to create a European empire that will rival Netflix and Walt Disney by controlling large chunks of the continent’s content and their delivery. His group wants to be among the world’s top five paid-content providers by the end of this decade.
Bollore has a potential war-chest to pursue that ambition. He has shares valued at about 7 billion euros in Universal Music Group and will have another 5.7 billion euros from the sale of his group’s African ports business to MSC, the world’s second-biggest container line. In addition, Bollore SE and Vivendi had a combined 5.4 billion euros in credit lines at the end of 2021 for potential acquisitions, according to their annual reports.
In a March interview with Le Figaro newspaper, Canal+ Chief Executive Officer Maxime Saada said he’s looking at between five and 10 targets worldwide. A key priority is tapping the world’s more than half a billion Spanish speakers. An effort to buy Telefonica SA’s unit Movistar, the largest subscription-TV provider in Spain, was recently rebuffed, although Bollore is still keen, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Canal+ also recently studied a potential deal with US pay TV channel Starz and its associated streaming service Starzplay, a person familiar with the matter said. Owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, home to series such as Outlander and Power and blockbuster films like the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises, the services have more than 35 million global subscribers.
Bollore, who announced his retirement earlier this year, remains hands on. He chairs the weekly meeting of Vivendi’s top executives at its headquarters off the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, commenting on films and series. He maintains the power to greenlight projects with his title at Vivendi of “Censeur” — which can mean both an adviser and a censor in French. He has not been coy about wielding that power in the past. A person with knowledge of the matter says he canceled financing for the movie “Grace a Dieu,” something the company said was an editorial committee decision. The film, which depicted pedophilia in the French Catholic church, found other funding and won a Cesar — the top French movie award — for best picture in 2019.
While he can’t control every aspect of his media business, he, like Murdoch, has put people who share his beliefs in key roles — like Christine Kelly, the star of one CNews's most successful panels. Also, with his views well known, there’s a great deal of self-censorship, said Patrick Eveno, a media historian at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
“Bollore is operating in the globalized entertainment business, where you have to produce the content people want,” but his ideology leads to people not putting forward projects they believe won’t fit, he said.
Bollore’s active role in strategic decisions makes it awkward for his children who have been assigned new roles in the group as part of a succession plan that began in 2018. His sixth-floor office, with a stunning view of the Arc de Triomphe, is now occupied by his son Yannick, the chairman of Vivendi’s board. The younger Bollore has been careful to avoid taking a political stance or support Zemmour. When he took over his father’s office, he kept the big burgundy leather sofas, but replaced a statue of Virgin Mary of Lourdes with modern artwork.
Still, with their father’s business strategy paying off — like Murdoch’s money-spinner Fox News, CNews is likely to break even in 2022 after years of losses — the children may not stray too far from their father’s path.
“I hope I have pushed my successors to try and defend French culture,” Bollore said during the senate hearing. “They assure me that’s what they wish.”
--With assistance from Alan Katz and Gina Turner.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.