Vivendi Announces Agreement to Sell Gala Magazine

Vivendi, the media group, has recently reached a significant agreement to sell Gala, a popular celebrity-gossip magazine, to Groupe Figaro, a newspaper publisher. This deal comes as Vivendi aims to address concerns raised by the European Union regarding its acquisition of rival group Lagardere.

The agreement, known as a put-option agreement, follows Vivendi's announcement earlier this month that its subsidiary, Prisma Media, which owns Gala, was in talks regarding the sale of the magazine to Groupe Figaro. Le Figaro, a daily publication, is owned by the Dassault Group, a prominent business family in France.

Vivendi has stated that the completion of this deal is expected by October, pending employee consultation procedures and approval from the European Commission. The sale of Gala is a part of the remedies demanded by the Commission in order for Vivendi's takeover of Lagardere to be approved. Lagardere owns Paris Match, a weekly magazine that is considered a major competitor to Gala in the celebrity-news domain.

In addition to this sale, last month Vivendi signed an agreement to sell its publishing business, Editis, to International Media Invest, a subsidiary of Czech Media Invest, a holding company founded by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. However, no financial details regarding the sales of Editis or Gala have been disclosed by Vivendi.