The ongoing saga of business woes at Vivendi Universal, parent company of the Universal Music Group, continued yesterday when France's stock market watchdog announced it had opened an investigation into the media group's accounts. Reports of false accounting started a spiral of disaster which saw shares in the company plummet, and eventually led to the resignation of Chief Exec Jean-Marie Messier. The Commission des Opérations de Bourse told reporters that investigators had begun examining documents at Vivendi's headquarters but did not give further details. The news overshadowed reports that the group has reached a provisional deal with its banks over its £640million in loans and was continuing to negotiate a further 3bn euros in credit.
Jul 10, 2002
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1 min read
More trouble for Vivendi
France's stock market watchdog has opened an investigation into Vivendi Universal's accounts, as the group reportedly reaches a provisional loan deal with its banks.