Brussels, 03/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - The French investment fund, Wendel Investissement, has approved acquisition of the assets that the Lagardère group had undertaken to sell off with the intention of taking over the old publishing arm of Vivendi Universal Publishing (VUP). In January this year, the Commission had cleared the deal on condition that Lagardère only keep part of the former VUP assets, including the publishing houses Larousse, Dalloz, Dunod and the Spanish group Anaya. (See EUROPE of 8 January).
The sale concerns 60% of the assets of Editis, a company that groups a large number of publishing houses as well as the distribution arm and the marketing structures of the former VUP. Editis is currently the second largest French publishing house and forms a coherent and autonomous entity, the Commission notes. Furthermore, after examining the buyer's situation, the Commission confirms that Wendel has the independence, viability, capacity and economic incentive to offer effective competition on the relevant markets. The French-language publishing business in Europe will therefore remain competitive insofar as Wendel has not previously operated in publishing. The family investment fund headed by Ernest Antoine Sellière, who is at the head of the French Medef, has still to obtain the approval of competition authorities in France and Belgium before finalising the operation end August, early September. The amount of the purchase of Editis shares is expected to total EUR 660 million.