Brussels, 23/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - In order to meet the demands of the European Commission with regard to Lagadère's project to acquire Vivendi Universal Publishing (VUP), Lagadère is now planning to only keep hold of the Larousse Editions and its Spanish publishing house, Anaya. It will sell the rest of its assets to Albin Michel, according to reports by the Reuters agency. Last week, Lagardère asserted that the possible sales linked to the purchase of VUP had still not been discussed with the Commission and underlined that it would not make any comment during the period of procedures. The European Commission contended that, "any information on what Lagardère can keep or should sell would be totally premature". This comment came from a source close to the case, who recognised, nevertheless, the existence of informal meetings with the Commission and the French group. The Commission, which has opened a probe into this deal, is currently preparing a statement of objections, which it is due to send to Lagadère by the end of October. The latter will obtain the final decision on 13 January at the latest