According to the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday, Vivendi and Numericable have been in talks for weeks on a deal that would give France a mobile and high-speed internet giant and greatly dilute Vivendi's stake in SFR.
Vivendi has been looking for months to reduce its exposure to the French mobile phone market, a once profitable business thrown in disarray by the arrival of low-cost operator Free in January.
The Journal du Dimanche reported that Vivendi was considering other ways to divest itself of SFR including a sale to former partner Vodafone and a full-blown share spin-off.
The reports sent shares in Vivendi rising sharply on Monday. In morning trading, Vivendi shares were showing a gain of 2.68 percent in a Paris market up 1.02 percent.
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