PARIS, FR (CelebrityAccess) – Vivendi SA shares dropped Tuesday following reports that the company’s former chairman and current head of media firm Bolloré Group French billionaire, Vincent Bolloré, was being questioned by police in Paris over a corruption scandal in West Africa. The news comes only one week after Bolloré installed his 38-year-old son, Yannick, as the head of the company’s board ahead of a crucial shareholder vote with Elliot Management over the fate of Telecom Italia scheduled to take place May 4th.
The media mogul’s company, which owns a majority stake in Vivendi and in turn owns both Universal Music Group and the Canal+ Group, saw Vivendi shares drop by approximately 1%, falling from 0.95% to €20.80 each.
Last week Vivendi also announced that they had begun work on a potential listing of Universal Music Group, which currently is the company’s largest asset.
Reports suggest that the investigation is centered around alleged payments Bolloré made to electoral campaigns in Togo and Guinea in order to facilitate future business for his company.
