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Telefonica prevails in fight over Vivendi's Brazilian division GVT(City A.M. (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) FRENCH media conglomerate Vivendi picked Telefonica, the owner of UK mobile operator O2, for exclusive talks over the sale of its Brazilian broadband unit GVT, spurning a bid from Telecom Italia. Telefonica aims to fold GVT into Brazil's leading mobile phone network Vivo, Telefonica's Brazilian arm, using GVT's pay-TV and broadband services to chase highervalue customers and keep profits growing as mobile subscriber growth slows in the nation of almost 200m. Vivendi's decision deals a blow to Telecom Italia, which needed GVT to shore up its own Brazilian mobile business, which lacks a fixed-line network. Vivendi will get €4.66bn (£3.67bn) in cash from Telefonica, as well as a 12 per cent stake in the combined Vivo-GVT venture. The sale caps a two-year overhaul for Vivendi, in which it sold three telecom businesses. Reuters (c) 2014 City A.M. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |