Vodafone to increase stake in SFR - FT
( 2001-06-04 10:58) (7)
Vodafone, the world leader in mobile telephony, in its bid to eventually take control of French telecom group SFR, may be about to take a stake in SFR shareholder Vivendi Universal, the Financial Times reported Monday.
According to the economic daily, which cited no sources, the British telecoms group is in talks with Vivendi Universal in a move which would bring Vodafone's stake in SFR, France's second-largest mobile phone operator.
"This would be achieved by swapping the extra SFR shares for Vodafone's 15 percent stake in Cegetal, a Vivendi-controlled telecoms group that owns 80 percent of SFR.
Such a deal would increase Vodafone's direct interest in the mobile phone operator at the expense of Vodafone's indirect interest in its parent company.
The move signals that the French media group may ultimately be willing to give up control of SFR to Vodafone, the paper said.
According to the FT, Vivendi Universal is meanwhile considering selling its three-billion-pound (US$4.3 billion) stake in British Sky Broadcasting to institutional investors, a move that would fundamentally change the ownership of Rupert Murdoch's satellite TV broadcaster.
"A disposal of Vivendi's stake in BSkyB to institutional investors would force a reconfiguration of BSkyB's board of directors and a dilution of Mr Murdoch's control," the paper said.
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