Vivendi in talks to sell publishing arm to Kretinsky to ease Lagardere deal

PARIS (Reuters), Vivendi has entered exclusive talks to sell Editis to a billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The deal could allow for regulatory approval for the Lagardere acquisition, the French media conglomerate stated Tuesday.

Vincent Bollore, a French billionaire, controls Vivendi. He wants to buy Hachette owner Lagardere. Editis is currently looking to merge the third-largest publisher of the world with Editis. However, this has been met with criticism by independent publishers. Editis lost well-known authors as a result.

Vivendi was also sent a formal objection letter by the European Union antitrust authorities regarding Lagardere’s takeover.

Vivendi shares fell slightly in morning trading. The company said that it was in discussions with International Media Invest (IMI), a Czech Media Invest subsidiary founded by Kretinsky over the sale Editis.

Vivendi stated that its talks with Kretinsky were a departure from an earlier plan for Editis to be spun-off and float on the Paris stock markets.

Vivendi stated that Editis’ sale would require approval by the European Commission.

“The sale of Editis is part of Vivendi’s charm strategy with the European Commission to win authorisation to take over Lagardere,” Gregoire Laverne (APICIL Asset Management manager), who owns Vivendi shares, said that the fund manager at APICIL Asset Management was responsible for this.

Laverne stated that Editis’ sale could bring in 600 to 900 million Euros ($642-$964 Million).

Kretinsky is responsible for one of Europe’s most important energy companies over the past decade.

He holds stakes in Le Monde newspaper, Casino supermarket and TV group TF1.

($1=0.9340 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip K-Gupta; Editing by Kirsten Dovan and Mark Potter).