Vivendi Shares Dip Amid Sale Doubts

Vivendi Universal’s share price dropped 8% on Monday in response to complications standing in the way of the sale of its Italian TV arm.

The world’s second-largest media firm needs the sale of Telepiu to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to meet its goal of nearly $5 billion in asset sales by year-end to reduce its massive debt.

But the Financial Times reported Monday that the nearly $1-billion deal was in jeopardy after News Corp. uncovered “due diligence” problems.

That news came on top of a European Union warning that the deal would have to be cleared by EU regulators.

Vivendi and News Corp. declined to comment, but sources close to Vivendi attempted to shrug off the complications.

Vivendi’s American depositary receipts closed down $1.01 to $11.39 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The former water utility’s shares have fallen 80% this year as the company wrestled with nearly $30 billion in debt inherited from ousted Chief Executive Jean-Marie Messier.

Chairman and CEO Jean-Rene Fourtou apparently jumped the gun by announcing the long-awaited sale of Telepiu to News Corp. as a “scoop” to journalists at a presentation last week.

Cancellation of the proposed deal would be an embarrassing setback to Vivendi’s no-nonsense chairman, anxious to avoid the gaffes and U-turns that undermined his predecessor.