Vivendi/Lagardère : David Cormand demande à la Commission européenne d’enquêter sur le gun jumping
Le 13 juin 2023, David Cormand, député européen Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, envoyait une lettre à la Commission européenne lui demandant d’ouvrir une nouvelle procédure d’enquête autour des allégations de gun-jumping qui ont émaillé la fusion Vivendi/Lagardère — en d’autres termes, un contrôle anticipé qu’aurait exercé le premier groupe sur le second avant l’autorisation officielle, ce qui est illégale. Dans sa newsletter Fair Play du 23 novembre, le média européen POLITICO s’est fait l’écho de cette lettre.
VIVENDI GUNJUMPING? French Green lawmaker David Cormand has asked the Commission whether it examined potential gunjumping in Vivendi’s acquisition for Lagardère, conditionally cleared last week, according to a letter sent to Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday. Gunjumping – or making moves to finalize a merger before getting EU approval – can lead to a serious fine.
Media concentration. Cormand previously compalained that the deal gave too much power to French conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré. His letter warns against Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire who has agreed to buy Vivendi’s publishing division Editis, a divestment that will need EU buyer approval. Kretinsky also took control of retailers Fnac/Darty which also sells books.
Vivendi response: Vivendi told us that it “respected the rules applying to this type of operation and we will continue to respect them until obtaining definitive authorization.”
POLITICO Fair Play est une newsletter professionnelle consacrée au droit de la concurrence dans l’Union européenne.