Exclusive-Vivendi set to win EU green light for Lagardere deal, sources say

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French media conglomerate Vivendi is set to win EU antitrust approval to buy Lagardere after its offer to sell Editis and celebrity magazine Gala managed to address competition concerns, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by June 14, declined to comment. Vivendi had no immediate comment.

Vivendi, controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, announced the deal last year which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match.

Vivendi is now in talks to sell its publishing division Editis to billionaire Daniel Kretinsky after EU competition enforcers voiced concerns about Lagardere unit Hachette, the world's third-biggest publishing group.

It has also offered to divest Gala to allay regulatory worries that the combination of its celebrity magazine and Voici together with Lagardere's Paris Match would create a strong market leader and negatively impact diversity and prices.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)