The European Commission today approved the takeover of Vivendi Universal’s publishing division by the French group Lagardere.
Competition concerns mean that Lagardere will only retain a 40% stake in Editis (formerly VUP) with the remainder of the business going up for sale again. Lagardere is the world’s largest magazine publisher but has been keen to expand into French language books.
Lagardere initially agreed to pay €1.25 billion for Vivendi’s publishing assets in the autumn of 2002 (see Vivendi Sells Publishing Business To Lagardere).
