Crisis over, says Vivendi as directors go

Vivendi Universal yesterday declared that its financial crisis was over as six directors resigned from the board and the company said it would sell €12bn (£7.5bn) of assets.

The company's new chief executive, Jean-Rene Fourtou, presented the results of a hurriedly conducted strategic review yesterday.

Mr Fourtou said: "We are leaving the crisis behind us. The main sources of loss have been reduced, sold or halted, or are about to be."

There was disappointment that no clear statement was made on the future of Vivendi's controlling 44 per cent in Cegetel, the French telecoms company. BT owns 26 per cent of Cegetel, which is up for sale. Investors had hoped for some indication that Vivendi may buy out BT. Shares in BT closed down 5 per cent at 154p.

Vivendi was close to bankruptcy three months ago, struggling with €35bn of debt, when Mr Fourtou was brought in to replace Jean-Claude Messier. Mr Fourtou said yesterday that he wanted to raise €12bn from disposals over the next 18 months, including Vivendi's publishing business, undoing some of Mr Messier's acquisition spree. At least €5bn in sales would be completed within the coming nine months. Only a few weeks ago, Vivendi had put its total disposals target at €10bn. Mr Fourtou said that Vivendi would retain its main media assets, which are concentrated in the US. "The new Vivendi Universal is an entertainment company focused on the creation of consumer content ... Entertainment (music, film, TV ... and games) is its core business," he said.

However, the strategic review failed to determine the future of Cegetel or Vivendi's 40 per cent stake in its legacy water business. Mr Fourtou told a news conference that Vivendi would study offers by Vodafone for its Cegetel stake. "We are continuing to study every possible solution [for Cegetel] that would be favourable to shareholders and compatible with our primary objectives," Mr Fourtou said.

The six board members departing include Alcatel's chairman Serge Tchuruk. Vivendi said it wanted a more "streamlined" board of 12 members.

Wrapping up months of poker-style negotiations, Vivendi said it had finally signed a deal to sell loss-making Italian pay-TV arm Telepiu to News Corp.

Vivendi said it was "studying" bids for its publishing business. The deal is expected to fetch around $3bn (£1.9bn).