LowIQinvestor Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (See Carson Block's recent long thesis) Founded in 1822, the Bolloré Group is one of the 500 largest companies in the world. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, the majority interest of the Group's stock is always controlled by the Bolloré family. This stable majority control of its capital allows the Group to develop a long-term investment policy. Thanks to a diversification strategy based on innovation and on international development, it now holds strong positions in all its activities around three business lines, Transportation and Logistics, Communication and Media, Electricity Storage and solutions. In addition its activities, the Group manages a number of financial assets including plantations and financial investments. In 2013: 53,608 employees world-wide Turnover: 10,848 million euros Net income: 450 million euros Shareholders' equity: 9,316 million euros http://www.bollore.com/en-us/investors/key-figures http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/block-s-muddy-waters-takes-first-bullish-bet-on-france-s-bollore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaceliacapital Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Yeah, so the case basically boils down to believing in the circular calculations the external consultant performed for MW. They don't really claim assets are undervalued, just that your share is actually worth more than you think, difficult to confirm this yourself, no? That being said, it's a nice owner operator, and MW paper gives good background info. In addition, the circular ownership setup is very interesting for the entrepeneurs amongst us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accutronman Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Bollore is a superb stock and Vincent Bollore is a consummate deal maker. Additionally, a great play on Africa with the holdings in ports and plantations. I bought back in 2012 and have tripled my money since then. Link to MW report: http://www.muddywatersresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MW_Bollore_02172015.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accutronman Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Additionally, if you want to play price to book value and the interlocking ownership of Bollore, take a look at the upstream entity Financiere de l'Odet (ODET.PA). More thinly traded but performance at times outstrips Bollore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
writser Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 This idea looks interesting but it's too complicated for me to understand. As Phaceliacapital said you just have to believe the Muddy Waters research. Makes it a pass for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowIQinvestor Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Bollore is a superb stock and Vincent Bollore is a consummate deal maker. Additionally, a great play on Africa with the holdings in ports and plantations. I bought back in 2012 and have tripled my money since then. Link to MW report: http://www.muddywatersresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MW_Bollore_02172015.pdf Thanks for providing the MW report. I hadn't seen it. I followed Bollore into Vivendi in mid 2012 (VIVHY)- It still looks attractive despite being up around 40% from my cost basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hielko Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 This idea looks interesting but it's too complicated for me to understand. As Phaceliacapital said you just have to believe the Muddy Waters research. Makes it a pass for me. It's not rocket science what MW did. Should be able to replicate their work with a bit of effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constructive Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 So it's what, 20 or 25x earnings? Definitely cheap on NAV but not particularly cheap on earnings/cash flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
writser Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 This idea looks interesting but it's too complicated for me to understand. As Phaceliacapital said you just have to believe the Muddy Waters research. Makes it a pass for me. It's not rocket science what MW did. Should be able to replicate their work with a bit of effort. But it's work ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namo Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Additionally, if you want to play price to book value and the interlocking ownership of Bollore, take a look at the upstream entity Financiere de l'Odet (ODET.PA). More thinly traded but performance at times outstrips Bollore. Also, Bolloré is where the stock is emitted (as acquisition currency), whereas Odet stockholders never got diluted. Disclosure: I own Odet stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowIQinvestor Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Just out: "Bollore raises Vivendi (VIVHY) stake to 8.15 pct" http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/bollore-vivendi-idINL5N0W44WB20150302 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeyfox Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hi, Bolloré issued a 6 year 450 MEUR bond with a 2,875% interest rate. We will see what he will do with the additional cash. His stake in Vivendi is now at 14,5%. Nice stake in Telecom Italia also. Cheers! Jeremy Long Bolloré galaxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeyfox Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hi, Vivendi (of which 14,5% is owned by Bolloré) now also has 0,95% of Telefonica. They got this share by swapping 3,5% of Telefonica Brasil. It seems that they wish to focus their attention on Europe. A long time before the Muddy Waters report, a french investment firm had investigated thoroughly this complex galaxy and understands it's complexity: Moneta Asset Management (I do not work for them). Cheers! Jeremy Long Bolloré galaxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaceliacapital Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I thought Vivendi had 14.9% of Telefonica? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeyfox Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Hi, I double checked: I confirm that Vivendi has 14,9% of Telecom Italia, 0,95% of Telefonica. They got their 14,9M of Telecom Italia through the sale of GVT to Telefonica. Telfonica being an indirect shareholder of Telecom Italia. Today Vivendi announced that they sold on the market the balance of their holdings in Telefonica Bresil. They got 877 MUSD through this transaction. Cheers! Jeremy Long Bolloré Galaxy. No holdings in Vivendi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaceliacapital Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Woops I read your telefonica as Italia, my bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giofranchi Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 jeyfox, your web site seems to be quite interesting! What about those who do not speak French? ;) Cheers, Gio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookie71 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Google will translate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeyfox Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Hi, first half results are published for Bolloré. The numbers seem good to me: -Sales: up 5% (flat on on constant exchange rate). - EBITDA is ate 536 MEUR up 17%. Transport and logistics (thanks to Africa) and communications (thanks to Havas) did well. - EBIT: up 11% at 338 MEUR. - Net profit: 552 MEUR and took advantage of the dividend's paid by Vivendi. There is an option given to use the interim dividend to acquire some Bolloré stock at 4,35 euros. Blue Solutions published it's first positive EBIT (3,6 MEUR during the first semester) which is explained by an increase in the sale batteries (+35,3% due to the Bluecar and to Bluestorage) and a decrease in the manufacturing cost of goods sold. Cheers! Jeremy Long Bolloré galaxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaceliacapital Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Anyone looking at this atm? Looks like commodity cycle in Africa has finally catched up with them in T&L.. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebdem Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Yes. I am looking deeply at it. Looks very interesting atm. Based on relativly conservative assumptions I am seeing Bollore at a roundabout 20-35% discount to its fair value. If the thesis of MuddyWaters is right, we might also have discount of 40%-70%, which is really huge for a company like this in good shape. There also seems to be a good chance to make money in the investment in Vivendi (which I am also researching at the moment). I am having a deeper debate in a German forum - if you know German, i can drop the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damerei Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Yes. I am looking deeply at it. Looks very interesting atm. Based on relativly conservative assumptions I am seeing Bollore at a roundabout 20-35% discount to its fair value. If the thesis of MuddyWaters is right, we might also have discount of 40%-70%, which is really huge for a company like this in good shape. There also seems to be a good chance to make money in the investment in Vivendi (which I am also researching at the moment). I am having a deeper debate in a German forum - if you know German, i can drop the link. I have a smattering of German and my interest has been piqued by this company. I would appreciate the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wachtwoord Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 With the rise of correct auto-translation software you don't 'need' to speak the language any more to understand most of the content. I love following www.vardebyran.se (by a member here) for instance but don't speak a word of Swedish. Just use Google translate :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebdem Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 http://www.wertpapier-forum.de/topic/42436-bollore/page__st__40 Here`s the link - btw: last time I used google translate it was a bit messy. But maybe the reason was i used it for a translating from Albanian or Greek to German ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wachtwoord Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 http://www.wertpapier-forum.de/topic/42436-bollore/page__st__40 Here`s the link - btw: last time I used google translate it was a bit messy. But maybe the reason was i used it for a translating from Albanian or Greek to German ;). Both the Slavic languages (never tried Albanian per se, but Serbian is very similar) and Greek to English works quite okay. I used this many times in the past to book hotels on the cheap (in the past also to communicate with the hotel over email). Thanks for the link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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