Vivendi Universal, the troubled media giant, admitted yesterday that it is under scrutiny in the United States over its accounting practices.
The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York has opened a criminal investigation and will work in conjunction with the Miami office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is carrying out its own informal inquiry.
Vivendi is already under investigation in France after it was alleged to have issued false accounts in 2000 and 2001 in order to prop up its share price. Similar accusations across the Atlantic led to the American authorities taking action.
Despite its massive debt burden, Vivendi is currently in talks with bankers to enable it to buy BT’s 26% stake in the French telecoms company Cegetel (see Vivendi Talks To Bankers About Cegetel Bid). However, it has confirmed that it is selling the US publisher Houghton Mifflin to a private equity consortium headed by Thomas H. Lee and the Blackstone Group for E1.75 billion.
