Because it already fully consolidates Cegetel, Vivendi will get no boost to its earnings.
Cegetel generates a lot of cash and a disproportionate chunk of Vivendi's profits (see chart).
The cash from Cegetel gives him more room to manoeuvre, and means he can defer the decision.
Assuming Vodafone acquires Mannesmann, Vivendi Communication will buy a further 7.5% stake in Cegetel, giving it control.
Assume, as some analysts do, that Britain's Vodafone might pay some euro6 billion for Vivendi's stake in Cegetel.
Gent, the CEO of Vodafone, was blocked by Vivendi from a controlling stake in Cegetel, France's No. 2 telecom.
Enter Vivendi, which controls Cegetel, the largest private wireless company in France, and owns stakes in networks in Spain, Hungary, Morocco and Kenya.
It is also possible that Mr Fourtou wants Cegetel purely for short-term cashflow, as he decides what kind of company Vivendi should be.
Yet Vivendi consolidates all of Cegetel's earnings, flattering its reported numbers.
BT's stake in Cegetel, but around euro4 billion is plausible.
That has limited its ability to finance further investment in its most valuable assets, such as Cegetel, France's second-largest telephone operator, of which Vivendi owns 44% and Mannesmann 15%.
Vivendi has rejected the charge, saying the decision to buy the Cegetel shares was "no more than a possibility, of which the public was perfectly aware" at the time of the bond issue.
If Vivendi were forced into a strategic retreat from telecoms by selling its stake in Cegetel, the euro6 billion or so it might raise would have to be used to pay back the euro16 billion of debt that is now in the central holding company.
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