Vivendi secures EU antitrust approval for Lagardere deal

BRUSSELS Vivendi, the Paris-based media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday secured EU antitrust certification for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere.

Vivendi last year announced that it would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly papers, the Journal du Dimanche JDD and Paris Match.

The European Commission, which acts as a competition enforcer in the 27-count European Union, said Vivendi has agreed to sell its publishing unit Editis and celebrity magazine Gala to address regulatory concerns about the deal.

In a statement, Vivendi said it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October.

We need to make sure that the book publishing and press markets remain competitive and diversified to foster a plurality of ideas and opinions, the EU's EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

The solutions proposed by Vivendi will allow for the safeguarding of existing competition within those markets, to the benefit of consumers. In April, Reuters reported that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Vivendi in April struck a deal to sell Editis to a company owned by a Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who already has interests in France's Le Monde newspaper, supermarket company Casino and TV group TF 1.

The European Commission's decision is excellent news for Vivendi, which will now be able to successfully carry out its ambitious development plan with the Lagardere group, said Yannick Bollore, Vivendi's supervisory board chairman.

The transaction will align with our strategic ambition to worldwideize our activities and our determination to be a leading global player in culture and entertainment, he said.