PARIS -- Two arms of France's Vivendi conglomerate closed a deal to buy a majority stake in the French Internet service jointly owned by US Net giant America Online and German publisher Bertelsmann.
Under a deal first announced in January, Vivendi's telecommunications subsidiary Cegetel and pay-television company Canal Plus will take a 55 percent state in AOL (AOL) and CompuServe France. America Online and Bertelsmann, the original joint venture partners for AOL in Europe, keep a joint 45 percent stake.
In a statement, the companies said AOL France would focus on the consumer market while CompuServe France concentrates on professionals, mirroring the AOL strategy with its services in the United States. In September, Canal Plus will launch a number of new services on the AOL online service and will become the main sports and leisure partner. Interviews and reports by Canal Plus sports and film journalists will be available on AOL.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The AOL-Bertelsmann venture is one of the leading online services in Europe, with "more than 2 million" subscribers to AOL and CompuServe, and growth of 50,000 per month. But Deutsche Telekom said today that it had passed AOL in Europe, growing 40 percent in the past year and claiming some 2.2 million subscribers to its T-Online service.
