Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 18, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleVivendi disputes EU allegations of breaching merger rules in its acquisition of Lagardere, aiming to clear charges and avoid fines.
BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) -French media group Vivendi on Friday rejected charges by EU antitrust authorities that it possibly breached merger rules by closing the acquisition of French publisher Lagardere before receiving the green light for the deal.
"Vivendi denies the allegations put forward by the European Commission. It will thoroughly review the statement of objections and respond with detailed arguments, with the aim of being cleared of all allegations and securing the closure of the investigation," Vivendi said in a statement.
The European Commission earlier on Friday said it had sent a statement of objections to Vivendi, which it said might have broken merger rules by implementing the acquisition of Lagardere before receiving approval for the deal.
The Commission two years ago opened an investigation into the possible infringement of EU merger rules, which could result in a hefty fine.
It said it had now informed Vivendi of its preliminary view that the company breached the notification requirement and the ‘standstill obligation' set out in the EU Merger Regulation, as well as the conditions and obligations attached to the Commission's June 2023 decision to clear the transaction.
"This document sets out the provisional findings of the European Commission’s investigation and merely marks the opening of the adversarial phase of the procedure. At this stage, it does not establish any infringement, nor does it entail any sanction," Vivendi said.
The company risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
The EU antitrust authorities have charged Vivendi with possibly breaching merger rules by completing the acquisition of Lagardere before receiving approval.
Vivendi has denied the allegations and plans to review the statement of objections thoroughly, aiming to clear itself of all charges.
If found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules, Vivendi could face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover.
The European Commission has opened an adversarial phase of the procedure, having informed Vivendi of its preliminary findings regarding the merger rules.
The European Commission opened an investigation into Vivendi's potential infringement of EU merger rules two years ago.
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