Vivendi amends plan to settle regulatory concerns in Italy, watchdog says

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MILAN (Reuters) – Vivendi has proposed amendments to how it plans to remove its position of significant influence at Italian broadcaster Mediaset, Italy’s communications watchdog AGCOM said on Tuesday.

It added that further talks were necessary in order to have more details as to how Vivendi intends to “structurally” remove that position.

AGCOM said in April that Vivendi’s stake-building at broadcaster Mediaset and Italian phone group Telecom Italia was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of power in the country’s telecoms and media sector and asked the French group to reduce one of the holdings.

In a statement, the regulator reiterated that Vivendi could face sanctions if it failed to comply with its ruling. According to the law, Vivendi could be fined an amount equal to between 2 and 5 percent of its revenues unless it complied with the divestment.