Vivendi in negotiations to buy Editis

French media, content and communications group Vivendi has begun exclusive negotiations to buy Editis, France's second largest book publisher, from Grupo Planeta of Spain.

Pierre Conte, Editis director general, said in an interview with the French trade publication Livres Hebdo that it would be “reasonable” to expect the deal to be completed by the end of the year. Vivendi “is an exciting alternative” to Planeta, added Conte.

Planeta had already said it wanted to sell its French subsidiary, which it bought in 2008 for €1,026m euros and is now valued at €900m.

The takeover, the current Vivendi owners’ first excursion into book publishing, would give Editis the means to “participate in the consolidation of the market and its transformation,” and accelerate “the two-way convergence between publishing and TV/film," Conte said. It would also boost Editis’ expansion abroad, including in Africa, where Vivendi has a strong presence.

The announcement comes shortly after the sudden death from a heart attack of Editis chairman Alain Kouck on 9th July.

The development smacks of history repeating itself, since the Vivendi group—under different ownership—controlled what became Editis before the foundations of the present group, which is made up of more than 50 publishing houses including Robert Laffont, Nathan and Bordas, were laid in 2004.