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International Business Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- International Business Times
Max-Hervé George: From French Prodigy to Architect of a €10 Billion Investment Platform
At 36 years old, Metz-born Max-Hervé George already straddles two worlds many financiers never bridge: the gilded circles of luxury hospitality and the button-down boardrooms of institutional capital. His new group formation, SWI Group, manages more than €10 billion in assets, following this spring's merger of London-based Icona Capital and Swiss real-assets house Stoneweg a deal Max-Hervé George personally fusioned and now co-leads. A Head Start in High Stakes Max-Hervé George's appetite for outsized bets surfaced early. Bornin Metz, France, he left law school at 21 to flip his first commercial property near Geneva and ploughed the profits into what would become Ultima Capital. By 2012 he was co-founding Ultima's ultra-luxury chalet portfolio; the flagship Ultima Gstaad opened in 2016 and helped land him on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list three years later. In 2023 he sold his remaining 33 % stake in Ultima for a reported US $1.4 billion enterprise value. Icona Capital: The Dry Run Operating out of London, Icona Capital specialised in "special-situations real estate" value-add deals like Ireland's Liffey Park tech campus and a Madrid logistics conversion. But Icona also revealed Max-Hervé George's wider ambitions: in 2022 it snapped up 40 % of Stoneweg, seeding an €8 billion platform that foreshadowed today's SWI Group. SWI Group: Scale Meets Governance The March 2025 unification of Icona and Stoneweg under the SWI banner instantly vaulted Max-Hervé George into the European big league: 350 employees, 26 offices across 18 countries, and a balance-sheet that spans data centres, logistics boxes, city-centre offices and a nascent sports-and-entertainment vertical. RathFollowing the launch of SWI Group, Max-Hervé George announced an International Strategic Advisory Board chaired by Vivendi boss Arnaud de Puyfontaine, wealth-management veteran Simon Benhamou and real-asset guru Olivier Jollin. Their remit: apply Fortune-500 discipline to a millennial-led growth story. It was a signal to pensions and sovereign funds that SWI's break-neck expansion would come with adult supervision. Management Style: High Velocity, High Visibility Although Max-Hervé George's public persona is by nature private, a single LinkedIn post announcing SWI's board hit 120,000 impressions, buoyed by congratulatory emojis from Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc and football icon Andrés Iniesta, both newly minted special advisers to SWI's Sports & Entertainment Committee. That digital fluency pays practical dividends: the firm's €500 million green bond in May priced 130 bps over mid-swaps and closed 3.8 × oversubscribed, an outlier result in a jittery credit market. Asia on the Radar Singapore bankers whisper that Max-Hervé George is eyeing Marina Bay for his first Asia hub hardly surprising given Southeast Asia's forecast 15–20 % CAGR in data-centre demand. Asked by IBT Singapore about the rumour, he responds humbly "Singapore has many opportunities and one would be lucky to get a stake". Beyond the Balance Sheet Friends describe Max-Hervé George as "relentlessly competitive" traits perhaps rooted in his stint handing out heavyweight judo medals at the Tokyo Olympics and his Aries star-sign bravado. Yet colleagues note a softer angle: hands-on mentoring of scholarship students and a private foundation that bankrolls children's oncology research.. What Comes Next Over coffee in London's Fitzrovia, Max-Hervé George outlines a three-year roadmap: 2 GW hyperscale build-out across five European countries, stitched together via SWI's AiOnX platform. €1.2 bn private-credit fund to finance grid upgrades underpinning those data centres. Sports/Media JV that pairs elite athletes with content studios "patronage for the TikTok age," he quips. Each pillar, he argues, leverages the same formula: institutional capital plus pop-culture "brand gravity" plus a forensic ESG audit trail. The Takeaway Max-Hervé George's rise reads like a millennial fairy-tale lavish chalets nine-figure exits but the through-line is unusually clear: bet early, be agile but aggressive, scale fast, and professionalise governance before the sceptics ask. If he can keep that balance, France's onetime "golden boy" may yet redefine how a new generation of asset managers talks to the world's most conservative capital.
Business Wire
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Vivendi: Significant Decrease in the Financial Net Debt in the First Quarter of 2025
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of Vivendi's (Paris:VIV) Supervisory Board, and Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive Officer, said: '2025 represents a new chapter in Vivendi's history and a year of reinvention after having split the Group in December of last year. During the first quarter of 2025, as part of the dynamic management of its equity interests, Vivendi decided to focus on the content, media and entertainment sectors. Our divestment from the telecoms industry led us to sell most of our stake in TIM, resulting in a substantial decrease in our financial net debt. Meanwhile, Gameloft continued to rebalance its games portfolio between the PC/console and mobile segments in line with the transformation strategy we have been pursuing for several years. The composition of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board was also reviewed and adjusted during this period to reflect the new scale of our company. Vivendi owns a portfolio of high-quality assets and maintains a solid balance sheet in the face of a turbulent and uncertain economic and stock market environment. We remain convinced of the soundness of our decision to split the Group at the end of 2024, and confident in the ability of this transaction to create value for all stakeholders.' Vivendi's revenues For the first quarter of 2025, Vivendi's revenues 1 were €69.4 million, stable compared to the first quarter of 2024 (+0.6% and +0.3% at constant currency and perimeter). Gameloft For the first quarter of 2025, Gameloft's total revenues were €68.5 million, including €31.9 million from the PC/console segment and €33.3 million from the Mobile segment, representing a slight increase (+0.6% and +0.3% at constant currency and perimeter) in total revenues compared to the first quarter of 2024. PC/console revenues now represent 46% of total revenues and were up 13.5% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first quarter of 2024. Mobile revenues represented 49% of total revenues, down 10.5% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first quarter of 2024. Disney Dreamlight Valley, Asphalt Legends Unite, Disney Magic Kingdoms, March of Empires, and Disney Speedstorm were the five best-selling games in the first quarter of 2025 and represented 56% of Gameloft's total revenues. In the first quarter of 2025, Gameloft launched Carmen Sandiego, first on Netflix in January, and then on PC and console platforms in March. The launch thrilled fans of the franchise and was covered in over 50 articles in the specialist press, noting the game's faithfulness to the original. Change in the Group's listed investments About Vivendi Since its creation, Vivendi has established itself as a player in content, media and entertainment, developing a portfolio of both listed and unlisted assets, each a leader in its market. Vivendi owns 100% of Gameloft, a world-renowned video game publisher that successfully develops multi-platform games for consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. Vivendi's asset portfolio includes minority stakes in leading publicly traded companies: Universal Music Group and Banijay Group in content and entertainment, and MediaForEurope and Prisa in media and telecommunications. In addition, Vivendi owns a stake in the publishing and travel retail sector with Lagardère and a residual stake in telecoms with TIM. Leveraging its strategic and economic expertise, Vivendi anticipates global dynamics and participates in the transformations of the sectors in which the group operates, notably the digital revolution and new consumer uses of content. Vivendi supports value-creating companies, offering sustainable prospects and a positive contribution to the evolution of our society. Guided by a long-term vision and a constant drive for innovation, the group relies on experienced teams to identify and support sustainable growth projects. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a commitment made in 2003, is at the heart of Vivendi's strategy and shapes each of its decisions. Important Disclaimers Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Although Vivendi believes that such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Vivendi's control, including, but not limited to the risks described in the documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (the French securities regulator), which are also available in English on Vivendi's website ( Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers at or directly from Vivendi. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. Vivendi disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Unsponsored ADRs. Vivendi does not sponsor an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility in respect of its shares. Any ADR facility currently in existence is 'unsponsored' and has no ties whatsoever to Vivendi. Vivendi disclaims any liability in respect of any such facility. Gameloft : As a reminder, quarterly revenues in 2024, were as follows: APPENDIX II VIVENDI NET ASSET VALUE (unaudited) Vivendi's Net Asset Value (NAV) is calculated as the Value of the Investment Portfolio less the Adjusted Financial Net Debt and other liabilities. The Value of the Investment Portfolio is calculated as the sum of the (i) fair market value of Vivendi's investments in listed companies based on the closing market price on the last day of the period; (ii) the value in use of Gameloft, unlisted company; (iii) the fair market value of treasury shares based on the closing market price on the last day of the period. Adjusted Financial Net Debt is calculated as the difference between (iv) borrowings (recognized at amortized cost); and (v) cash, cash equivalents and cash deposits allocated to borrowings; as well as (vi) the loan to Lagardère (including accrued interest). The per-share NAV is determined by dividing the NAV by the number of shares outstanding at the end of the period (including treasury shares). Included 2,299,420 thousand ordinary Telecom Italia shares (representing 10.77% of its share capital), sold to Poste Italiane on April 3, 2025 and valued at a sale price of €0.2975 per share for a total consideration of €684 million. Included 56,210 thousand A shares and 56,209 thousand B shares. Vivendi held 37,684 thousand treasury shares, representing 3.66% of its share capital, of which 32,147 thousand shares were allocated to share cancellations, 2,843 thousand shares were allocated to covering employee shareholding plans and 2,694 thousand shares were allocated to covering performance share plans Included cash collateral related to bilateral structured financing agreements (€270 million as of March 31, 2025, compared to €35 million as of December 31, 2024). Includes consolidated data established in IFRS standards. Includes employee benefit reserves, intrinsic value of Lagardère share transfer rights, and non-recurring transaction costs incurred in connection with the Vivendi spin-off and the remaining to be paid. 1 This press release contains unaudited consolidated revenues established under IFRS. 2 15.00% of ordinary shares and voting rights (representing 10.77% of the share capital). 3 Ordinary shares and voting rights (representing 12.56% of the share capital).
