(Updated with IMI press release)
by Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS, March 14 (Reuters) – Vivendi said on Tuesday it was in exclusive talks with a company owned by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky for the sale of its publishing group Editis, which could see it gain fire green of the European Commission to its plan to take over Lagardère.
“Vivendi’s Management Board has decided to enter into exclusive negotiations with International Media Invest as (IMI), a subsidiary of the Czech holding company CMI founded by Daniel Kretinsky”, announced the French media giant, controlled by Vincent Bolloré, in a press release. .
“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,” he added.
In a press release, IMI said it was “delighted” with this decision, hoping that the steps with the Commission and the staff bodies will have “a positive outcome” giving Editis “the means to guarantee its independence and to continue its development”. .
“I am very happy and proud of the possibility of becoming a shareholder in a publishing flagship like Editis if the process comes to an end. I am aware of the responsibilities that such an acquisition entails given the quality of the houses that make up the group and their place in French intellectual history,” said Daniel Kretinsky, quoted by IMI.
In November, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed takeover of Lagardère by Vivendi, considering that the operation was likely to significantly reduce competition in the book market due to a merger between Hachette, owned by Lagardère, and Editis.
Vivendi had initially proposed as a remedy a split of Editis, the simultaneous distribution of its shares to Vivendi shareholders and its listing on the Paris Stock Exchange, a project now “suspended”, is it specified in the press release.
Grégoire Laverne, fund manager at Apicil Asset Management, which owns Vivendi shares, estimated that a sale of Editis could be worth between 600 and 900 million euros.
Daniel Kretinsky, who over the last ten years has built one of the largest energy groups in Europe, has interests in France in the newspaper Le Monde, TF1 and the Casino group.
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. (Sudip Kar-Gupta report, written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Tangi Salaün and Kate Entringer)
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