Gaumont (The Stranger), one of France’s oldest film companies, is facing delisting from Euronext Paris after a standoff with minority investors who are demanding its exit.
The Seydoux family, which controls nearly 90% of the company, was ordered by France’s watchdog, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), to make an offer to buy out all remaining shareholders, including funds such as HMG, Gay-Lussac and Accion. The AMF judgment was handed down in October 2025 and was upheld by the Paris Court of Appeal last week.
The ruling required Gaumont to submit a tender offer within six months. That deadline expires in mid-April. By then, the company’s major shareholders, including Nicolas Seydoux, Sidney Dumas (Gaumont CEO), Michel Seydoux, Penélope Seydoux, and Nicolas Seydoux’s holding in Cine Par, must set the offering price, get an independent expert valuation approved and secure full financing.
The conflict with minority shareholders took hold after 2017, when Gaumont sold a 34% stake in a film joint venture with Pathé, run by Nicolas’ brother Jérôme Seydoux, for 380 million euros and bought back most of the listed shares.
These moves allowed the Seydoux family to increase their control of the company to 90%, but trading in Gaumont’s shares steadily dried up over the next few years, and one of the shareholders, fund manager Accion, petitioned the AMF in 2025, arguing that Gaumont’s shares were effectively locked in. AMF ultimately determined that Axion’s request was acceptable. The Seydoux family was forced to launch a takeover offer because under French law, one valid request is sufficient to trigger a takeover obligation for all minority shareholders.
In its ruling, the AMF noted that Gaumont’s annual trading volume had declined dramatically, reaching just over 17,000 shares in 2024. The regulator also estimated that it could take “6 to 17 years” for some investors to sell their holdings, concluding that “under normal time and price conditions, the likelihood of selling the stock in the market is permanently impaired and appears unlikely to improve.”
Gaumont and its controlling shareholder initially challenged the AMF ruling, arguing that some investors were trying to force a takeover at a favorable price. Now that it has lost its charm, the Seydoux family is in a difficult position.
“They may want to lower the valuation, but that would weaken the asset and expose it strategically,” said an industry insider.
Gaumont, which celebrated its 130th anniversary last year, reported stable revenues of 150 million euros (about 172 million euros) in 2025, but losses rose 153% to 19.5 million euros. Film business fell by 23%, but French theatrical activity rose 89% to €14 million, with box office sales strong for films such as Franck Dubosc’s The Bears of the Jura and Ken Scott’s My Mother, God and Sylvie Vartan. However, the company has faced structural challenges since selling its stake in Exhibition in 2017 to focus on production and distribution, including in the United States. A number of factors, including streamer commission disputes, led Gaumont to shut down most of its transatlantic operations.
Meanwhile, Pathé began making plans for an IPO several years ago, but ultimately abandoned the project. The company is still led by 91-year-old Jérôme Seydoux, and last year brought in French-Lebanese shipping billionaire Rodolphe Saadeh, who acquired a 20% stake in the company, as a minority shareholder.
France’s other major film studio, UGC, operates one of France’s leading cinema chains and last year brought in Canal+ Group as a minority shareholder with a 34% stake. The deal will give Canal+ full control of UGC in 2028.
