PARIS: Lagardère SCA, the holding company of the Lagardère Group, declared Monday it was “currently in the process of evaluating the strategic options for the sale of all or part of” its multinational sports and entertainment agency Lagardère Sports.
Arnaud Lagardère, general and managing partner of Lagardère SCA, the holding company of the Lagardère Group, had earlier confirmed the media conglomerate’s “strategic refocusing” at the annual general meeting in May.
About the sale process, the company stated: “During this process, Lagardère may have to grant short-term exclusivity periods to potential buyers in order for them to address specific issues or due diligence matters.
“At this stage of the process, nothing is precise enough to be disclosed. Should it be the case, Lagardère would duly inform the market.
“Lagardère is not commenting on the rumours about specific partners such as Wasserman or Endeavor, which are established and esteemed players of this industry.
“Lagardère is not commenting on figures either.”
Lagardère does business in almost 40 countries and is structured around four main business lines: its book and electronic publishing division (Lagardère Publishing) includes the major imprint Hachette Livre. The Lagardère Travel Retail unit includes store retail, largely in airports and railway stations while the Lagardère Active unit encompasses newspaper, digital media and magazine publishing (including Hachette Filipacchi Médias), radio and television broadcasting and production and advertising sales.
Lagardère Sports and Entertainment engages in sports and talent management, sports academies, event management, marketing of sports broadcast rights and management of sports venues.
Of more relevance to Asian stakeholders is Lagardère Sports Asia, formerly known as World Sport Group, which was acquired by Lagardère in 2008 and renamed in 2015.
The company also formed a joint venture with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011. It also runs a media channel for the AFC.
Lagardère shares are listed on Euronext Paris.
