Vivendi announced in a short statement today that it has called-off talks to acquire a majority stake in Zain’s African mobile businesses.

Vivendi announced that it is interrupting talks, started some weeks ago, with the Kuweiti Group Zain, to acquire a majority stake in its African telecommunications activities.

Vivendi has applied its usual criteria of profitability and financial discipline to this potential investment in emerging markets, in the best interests of its shareholders.

Earlier, Vivendi confirmed its interest for acquiring a majority stake in the Zain group’s telecommunications activities in Africa, in line with its clearly defined strategy of seeking growth opportunities in emerging countries. Vivendi in this context issued a press release saying that this acquisition would enable Vivendi to capitalize on its successful experience of developing mobile telephony in Africa.