Clear as mud; Vodafone versus Vivendi.(Does Vivendi have a strategy?)
Economist (US), The, December, 2002
Vivendi has won control of Cegetel, but its long-term strategy is still murky
WHAT is Jean-Rene Fourtou, boss of Vivendi Universal, up to? His struggling French conglomerate has been fighting Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, over Cegetel, France's second-largest telecoms company, in which both firms own stakes. Vodafone's strategy was clear. It wanted control of SFR, Cegetel's subsidiary and France's second-largest mobile-phone operator, to plug the last big hole in its European coverage "footprint".
Why Vivendi was trying to stop it, however, is anybody's guess. In September, Mr Fourtou, who took charge in July, declared that "Vivendi Universal is basically an entertainment company". That signalled a retreat from the tarnished vision...
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