MILAN (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors have completed a probe into Vivendi’s Vincent Bollore and Arnaud De Puyfontaine for alleged market manipulation and obstruction of regulators, tax police said on Saturday.
The prosecutors’ probe revolves around allegations the two managers pulled a deal to buy the pay TV unit of Italian broadcaster Mediaset to drive down its share price and raid its stock, according to a document seen by Reuters.
A lawyer representing the two men has not replied so far to an email request for comment sent by Reuters. Vivendi categorically denied any wrongdoing in the case in a statement on Saturday.
In the probe closure document seen by Reuters, prosecutors allege the real aim of the pay-TV deal was “to reach a relevant share holding, at least 24.99%, in the capital of Mediaset”.
They allege three Vivendi statements issued in 2016 were written to convince the market the deal had fallen through because of “wrong representation by Mediaset of the economic-financial situation” of the pay-TV unit.
They also allege the two managers failed to tell the market they had hired Italian bank Mediobanca to study ways of building a stake in Mediaset.
The latest development in the long-running case comes amid tension between the Paris-based company and Italy over a law potentially curbing its interests in the country.
Fininvest, the holding company that controls Mediaset, originally filed a complaint over Vivendi’s stake-building at the end of 2016 accusing it of never intending to honour the pay-TV deal.
Prosecutors later placed the then Vivendi chairman Bollore and CEO De Puyfontaine under investigation for alleged market manipulation over the French group’s stake-building in Mediaset.
According to Italian legal procedures, the prosecutors are now expected to ask a judge to send Bollore and De Puyfontaine to trial.
Vivendi, which questioned the pay-TV unit’s profit forecasts when it ditched the deal, has previously said its aim was to forge an alliance to create a European media company.
The U-turn on the pay-TV purchase by Vivendi, whose main investor is Bollore, prompted Mediaset and Fininvest to seek multi-billion euro damages.
A legal case has been ongoing ever since, while attempts to clinch a wider settlement and break the stalemate have so far proved unsuccessful.
In Italy, investigations do not imply guilt and does not necessarily mean charges will be laid.
Mediaset and Fininvest declined to comment, while Mediobanca was not immediately available for a comment.
Reporting by Emilio Parodi, Stephen Jewkes and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Mark Potter and Alex Richardson
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December 12, 2020 at 04:57PM
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Italian prosecutors complete probe into Vivendi's Bollore, De Puyfontaine - Reuters
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