Vivendi chief Vivent Bolloré has been placed under investigation for alleged market manipulation in relation to the French media giant's bid for Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset group, media sources reported on Friday.
The probe allegedly follows a complaint presented by Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest, which owns 40% of Mediaset. Fininvest argues the French group created the "conditions" for lowering the value of Mediaset shares in order to then launch the takeover bid at a cut price by reneging on an agreement to take full control of pay-TV business Mediaset Premium via a 3.5% stock swap with the parent company, Mediaset SpA.
On Friday Vivendi refused to comment on the news.
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