Brussels, 19/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of Sportfive Group, a French company active in the commercialisation of sports rights and sports marketing, by Lagardère, also of France. Lagardère's two main business areas are media and high technologies. Its media activities include book publishing, press, distribution and retailing services, and broadcasting and multimedia services. Sportfive is active in the trading of sports, especially football, broadcasting rights and marketing services for events, including sports event. The proposed concentration would allow Lagardère to gain control of Sportfive and enter the international sports rights trading market. The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that there were no horizontal overlaps between the activities of Lagardère and Sportfive, even though Lagardère holds a non-controlling stake in Canal+, the French pay TV group, which has a strong position on the French sports broadcasting market. (cd)