EU to investigate if Vivendi breached merger rules on Lagardere deal (updated)
25/07/2023 17:17
(Rewrites first paragraph, adds details, EU antitrust chief
comments)
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) -
EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday opened an investigation
into whether French media conglomerate Vivendi VIV.PA
infringed merger rules during its acquisition of French
publisher Lagardere LAGA.PA with a hefty fine likely for any
breach.
The EU competition enforcer has in recent years handed
out big fines to deter such offences, which it considers a
serious breach of EU merger rules.
Vivendi did not immediately respond to an emailed
request for comment.
The Commission flagged the possibility of an
investigation last month following media reports that Vivendi
may have jumped the gun before securing its approval for the
deal.
The investigation will focus on whether Vivendi breached the
notification requirement and standstill obligation as well as
the conditions and obligations attached to the European
Commission's decision to clear its Lagardere deal.
"We take any breach of these procedures very seriously. At
this stage, the Commission has gathered sufficient elements to
open a formal investigation to determine whether Vivendi has
complied with our procedures," EU antitrust chief Margrethe
Vestager said in a statement.
Such so-called gun-jumping can lead to a fine as much as 10%
of Vivendi's aggregated turnover. The EU executive gave the
green light to the deal last month.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Nick Macfie)
((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 585 2866; Reuters
Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))