La Post acquires Delta Diffusion from Vivendi

The French post office (La Poste) is to take control of Delta Diffusion, a subsidiary of Comareg, part of French publishing company Vivendi Universal Publishing, through its own subsidiary Mediapost. The operation, which was presented yesterday to the works councils of the companies involved, will allow La Poste to form “a major pole in local postal marketing and advertising”, generating more than 400m euros in turnover and commanding a 59 per cent share of the market.

The transaction will involve no cash and will be carried out entirely in shares. Under the terms of the agreement, Mediapost will acquire 100 per cent of Delta Diffusion. In return, Comareg will take a stake of 33 per cent in its own capital. When the operation is complete, French holding company Sofiposte of La Poste, which had a 95 per cent stake in Mediapost, will have reduced its interest to 64 per cent. Insurer GMF-Azur will reduce its stake in the company from 5 per cent to 3 per cent.

Le Figaro