(Bloomberg) -- French billionaire Vincent Bolloré is weighing a breakup of his sprawling media and entertainment empire, Vivendi SE, in a strategic reversal aimed at reviving the value of its businesses. The shares surged.

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Under the plan, the French conglomerate, which has a market value of about €10 billion ($10.9 billion), would be split into three: pay-TV arm Canal+; advertising and communications branch Havas; and a business that includes its majority stake publishing group Lagardère, the Paris-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Since listing its most valuable business, Universal Music Group, the French company said it has “endured a significantly high conglomerate discount,” cutting its valuation and limiting growth opportunities for its subsidiaries. The three separate entities could fetch a market valuation about 40% higher than where they’re currently valued, UBS analyst Adam Berlin said in a note on Thursday.

The strategy marks “a U-turn from the current strategy of seeking closer integration among its disparate collection of media assets,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Bloxham said. Vivendi had tried to create synergies between its activities, turning intellectual property such as Paddington Bear into films, books and marketing campaigns in an effort to build a European empire to rival Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co.

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Vivendi shares rose 7.7% to €9.65 at 12:44 p.m. in Paris trading. The shares earlier gained as much as 12%, the biggest intraday rise since Sept. 2021.

Pay-TV group Canal+ is the company’s largest unit, accounting for more than half of sales and earnings. Last year it generated about €5.9 billion of revenue and €515 million in earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization. Havas came second, accounting for more than a quarter of the company’s revenue.