Vivendi completes Telefónica exchange

Vivendi and Telefónica have completed their exchange of shares, enabling the French media giant to enter Telefonica’s ownership.

Vivendi has sold 58.4 million preferential shares to Telefónica Brasil to Telefónica, representiting 3.5% of the shares of the Brazilian unit, in exchange for 46 million shares in Telefónica.

Separately, Vivendi is looking for additional opportunities to increase its participation in Telecom Italia, according to French financial daily Les Echos.

According to unnamed sources cited by the paper, Vivendi, which holds about 15.5% of the Italian telco, aims to increase its stake to about 20%.