European Commission Investigates Vivendi for Possible Gun-Jumping in Pending Acquisition of Lagardere
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent The European Commission has opened a formal investigation for possibly jumping the gun in Vivendi’s pending acquisition of Lagardère, the French media, publishing and travel retail conglomerate.
Vivendi, which is owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré and is the parent company of pay TV giant Canal+ Group, has a 57.35% stake in Lagardere.
The Paris-headquartered company launched an OPA to acquire the remaining stake in Lagardere in 2022. After raising anti-trust concerns, the European Commission eventually gave its support for the acquisition of Lagardere on June 9 on the condition that Vivendi sells its publishing group Editis, as well as its stake in Gala magazine.
Vivendi said both deals will be completed by October. The launch of the E.C. investigation follows the shocking appointment of a new editor-in-chief Geoffroy Lejeune, well known for his far-right views, at Le Journal du Dimanche, a popular mainstream weekly newspaper owned by Lagardere Group.
Read more on variety.com
