Vivendi refreshes management team

Vivendi, which has now distributed 60% of the share capital of Universal Music and listed it on the Amsterdam stock exchange and has launched a takeover bid for Lagardère, is to refresh its management team as it refocuses its business on content, media and communications.

Following a meeting this week of the company’s supervisory board under Yannick Bolloré, Vivendi aims to create a new management board when the mandate of the current board expires on June 23.

The new management line-up under chairman Arnaud de Puyfontaine will include Frédéric Crépin as general counsel and François Laroze as CFO. Laroze will remain CFO of advertising outfit Havas.

The other members of the management board will be Claire Léost, president of Prisma Media, Céline Merle-Béral, who will become chief of HR strategy and corporate culture, but will retain her existing role at Havas, and Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of Canal+ and Dailymotion.

Vivendi will also create a new executive committee, in which the management board will participate.

The executive committee will comprise Raphaël de Andreis, president of Havas France and southern Europe, who will work alongside De Puyfontaine to support Vivendi in Italy and with cross-functional projects, Hala Bavière, who will become CEO of Vivendi Village, Michèle Benbunan, CEO of Editis, who will work with Puyfontaine on the company’s publishing activities, Lorella Gessa, who will become chief communications officer, Félicité Herzog, chief strategy and innovation officer, Caroline Le Masne, head of legal, compliance and CSR, and Michel Sibony, chief value officer.

“The entire Supervisory Board is very pleased to welcome new members to a renewed Management Board supporting Arnaud de Puyfontaine, its chairman. It is also now able to count on an executive committee, bringing together a variety of talent and expertise from across the group. These two bodies, which are perfectly in line with our ‘New Vivendi’ plan, will enable us to accelerate the transformation, internationalisation and integration of all our activities,” said Bolloré.