Vivendi agrees to buy out Vodafone

WASHINGTON, April 4 (AFP): Vivendi SA agreed to buy out Vodafone Group's stake in a French telecommunications giant, giving Vivendi full control of its biggest cash generator, The Wall Street Jopurnal reported late Sunday. The newspaper said Vivendi agreed to pay 7.95 billion euros ($11.31 billion) for the 44 stake in France's second-largest telecom SFR that it does not already own. The deal values Vodafone's stake at 7.75 billion euros, and the British company will receive an additional 200 million euros as a final dividend after the deal is completed, the report said. "This is a turning point for us," The Journal quotes Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy as saying in an interview.