After a preliminary review, the European Commission has formally “opened an in-depth investigation” to assess the competitive effects of Vivendi’s pending acquisition of Lagardere. They are “concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition on a number of markets across the entire book value chain,” as well as in celebrity magazines (where the deal would combine Lagardere’s Paris Match with Vivendi’s Gala and Voici). Without modifications, the deal would combine the two largest book publishers in France. While Vivendi has said it is examining spinning off Editis into a separate company, that has been just talk so far. The EC […]