Vivendi’s SFR-Iliad Deal May Be Prohibited, BFM Reports

Vivendi SA’s SFR unit and Iliad SA have been told by competition regulators that their competing French phone businesses wouldn’t be allowed to merge, BFM reported, citing unidentified people in the industry.

In separate consultations, the two companies were told that a hypothetical merger of SFR and Iliad would be rejected as the market share would be too big, television station BFM said on its website. Iliad spokeswoman Isabelle Audap and a Vivendi representative declined to comment. French Competition Authority spokeswoman Virginie Guin didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.