Vodafone leads queue for Vivendi assets.

Financial News, July, 2002

Vodafone is heading the predators stalking Vivendi, after a leading French banker said asset sales by the troubled French media giant were inevitable.Goldman Sachs, the American investment bank, has been hired by the new chairman, Jean-Rene Fourtou, to advise on possible asset sales to stabilise the group.Weekend reports of Vodafone lining up cash bids for the stakes in Cegetel and SFR it does not own were dismissed as speculative.Independent broker Collins Stewart has warned that Vodafone could jeopardise its single-A credit rating if it seeks to acquire the part of SFR it does not own.