By Sam Schechner
PARIS--Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) said Wednesday its telecommunications
strategy chief is taking over as chief executive at its French
telecom operator SFR, an expected move as the company continues to
refocus on its smaller media assets.
Jean-Yves Charlier, a former Vivendi board member, was last
summer named senior vice president in charge of telecommunications.
But since last fall, people close to the company say the telecom
veteran has spent the bulk of his time working on SFR, Vivendi's
largest unit by revenue, whose profit has been eroded by a brutal
price war in France's mobile-phone market.
The company's broader strategic shift aims to sell or spin off
telecommunications assets to focus on its media holdings, including
French TV operator Canal Plus and Universal Music Group. In such a
strategy, the company would eventually spin off or undertake a
public offering of SFR, either with other telecoms assets or alone,
according to people familiar with the company's thinking.
Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com
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