Bollore expands foothold in French print media with Prisma deal

PARIS (Reuters) -Billionaire Vincent Bollore, the biggest shareholder in Vivendi, is poised to expand his activities in French media with the acquisition of Prisma Media.

Vivendi, which has France's biggest pay-TV group Canal, advertising group Havas and publishing company Editis, said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Prisma from Germany's Bertelsmann for an unspecified sum.

Prisma is France's number one print magazines group, with titles such as Femme Actuelle, Capital, Gala and Tele-Loisirs.

Prisma Media generated 304 million euros in annual net revenues in 2019, its website said, reflecting sales of 130 million magazines per year.

Prisma will represent a small part of Vivendi's overall business, which generated about 16 billion euros ($19.49 billion) in sales last year.

The agreement signed between Vivendi and Bertelsmann concludes exclusive negotiations between the two groups announced last week.

Bollore is vying with rival billionaire and LVMH boss Bernard Arnault for more influence at French media group Lagardere, home to household names such as the Journal du Dimanche, Paris Match and the Europe 1 radio station.

($1 = 0.8207 euros)

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain;Editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman)

By Mathieu Rosemain