Selwood Asset Management Statement on Canal+ and Hachette

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Karim Moussalem, CIO Equities at Selwood Asset Management, has written to investors about the substantial discount to fair value in the share prices of Canal+ SA (CAN) and Louis Hachette Group SA (ALHG) versus peers in the European listed media/communications sector.

Selwood, which has an interest of over 0.5% in each company, has issued the following statement from Mr. Moussalem today:

“In a nutshell, the purpose of splitting Vivendi SA (VIV) into separate companies was to create substantial shareholder value. Yet, so far, the common thing missing from both Louis Hachette Group SA (ALHG) and Canal+ SA (CAN) is the boards’ issuance of transparent communication to the market on clear targets and KPIs. This is why we believe that the valuation discount has only widened and that the sell-off in Canal+ and Hachette shares leaves 100% upside in the stock price of each company on a medium-term basis.”

“In addition to the massive discount to fair value, there is also the catalyst for investors to buy the shares before, Bolloré Group, the largest shareholder, does. Being a French listed business in the UK, Bolloré doesn’t need to disclose any share purchases in Canal+ until it gets to a 50% holding.”

In 2024 results reported on March 17 Bolloré Group confirmed that it had a 30.4% shareholding in each of the former Vivendi companies.

Mr. Moussalem added: “Selwood has an ongoing dialogue with Canal+ and Hachette. In our view, the only thing missing, with both stocks, is better communication around the current market opportunity and their strategic positioning to benefit from this. We believe this would be advanced by the disclosure of clear performance targets. Not doing so, contravenes the promises by Bolloré Group to address the share-of-the-parts discount at the Vivendi level which led to the break-up.”

About Selwood
Selwood Asset Management LLP is an alternative investments manager based in London and Paris. It was founded in 2015 to manage liquid credit strategies in Europe and North America. Since 2021 it has run an active equity strategy.