Elektrim/Vivendi set to wrap up this week

By : Roseanne Gerin

   Elektrim (http://www.elektrim.pl) and France-based Vivendi Universal (http://www.vivendi.com) this week will complete their negotiations to give the French media and utilities group control over the Polish telecom and energy concern’s telecom and Internet assets, despite postponing a previous deadline to complete the deal, sources said.

   Elektrim and Vivendi were expected to close their deal in early August after they missed their original July 30 deadline due to “the complicated nature of the transaction,” according to an Elektrim statement. The finalization of the deal would be the last step in Elektrim’s agreement in late June to sell the French its telecom and Internet assets for EURO589 million in cash and loans.

   A local daily last week reported that the delays were due to Vivendi’s lack of interest in purchasing Elektrim’s Internet assets, saying they were expensive and had poor growth prospects.

   Sources who declined to be identified, however, said the delays were due to the absence of key figures involved in the negotiations, who were on holiday in August. Once source close to the deal said the talks continued in August, despite the absence of one or more important players. The deal is expected to be completed this week.

   Ewa Bojar, Elektrim’s spokeswoman, called the local news report speculative, but would not confirm that some key players, including an Elektrim management board member, were on vacation during August, as the press report also stated.

   Bojar added there were no snags in the negotiations, but would not confirm the talks would be concluded this week. “Both sides want to make the best deal for the company and, of course, there is discussion,” she said. “It’s not a problem … only business discussion.”

   Antoine Lefort, Vivendi’s spokesman, declined to comment on the press report’s statement that the French did not want Elektrim’s Internet assets.