Just What is Bollore Doing at Vivendi?

France's Vivendi isn't an easy company to understand. It made a big thing a couple of years back about ending its conglomerate status by dumping telecoms and video games businesses and focusing instead on its Universal Music division and Canal Plus pay-TV group.

So it's been interesting to watch this year as it bought a 20 percent holding in Telecom Italia as well as stakes in two French games-makers, Ubisoft and Gameloft. Some might argue that this reversal shows a frustrating lack of strategic consistency. Probably closer to the truth is that it's evidence of Vivendi, embodied by billionaire chairman Vincent Bollore, seizing opportunities where they crop up.