Vivendi in exclusive talks over Editis sale

French media group Vivendi said on Tuesday that it is in exclusive talks with International Media Invest (IMI) to sell its Editis publishing business.

IMI is a subsidiary of Czech Media Invest, which was founded by billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

This deal would require authorisation from the European Commission and be subject to the information and consultation procedure involving the relevant employee representative bodies.

"In this context, the plan to distribute the Editis shares to the Vivendi shareholders, and their listing on the Euronext Growth market, is put on hold," the company said.

Vivendi said it had received "several" offers for Editis, the sale of which takes it a step closer to getting EU approval for its takeover of publishing and retail group Lagardere.