PARIS (Reuters) – Vivendi announced on Tuesday that it was entering into exclusive negotiations with the IMI group, a subsidiary of the Czech holding company CMI of the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, for the sale of the entire capital of its publishing group. Editis.
“This planned transaction will have to be accepted by the European Commission and will be subject to information-consultation procedures with the staff representative bodies concerned,” said the media giant in a press release.
Vivendi, faced with the rules of European competition to complete its plan to buy Lagardère, owner of Hachette, a competitor of Editis, indicated last week that it was continuing its discussions with potential buyers of Editis in order to get the green light from the Brussels authorities.
The European Commission last November opened an in-depth investigation into the project, considering that the operation was likely to significantly reduce competition in the book market due to a merger between Hachette and Editis.
Vivendi, controlled by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, had initially proposed as a remedy a split from Editis, the simultaneous distribution of its shares to Vivendi shareholders and its listing on the Paris Stock Exchange, a project now “suspended”.
Vivendi specifies that it has received several offers for the sale of the entire capital of Editis. According to the Financial Times, in addition to Daniel Kretinsky, the Canadian group Quebecor and the French media group Reworld were candidates.
(Written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Tangi Salaün)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
