French telecom and entertainment conglomerate Vivendi has picked up the pace in the last few days in its search for a chairman to succeed Jean-Francois Dubos, who holds the post on an interim basis, writes Les Echos. The headhunting operation, underway since the start of the summer, came up with Bertelsmann chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe as the favourite. However, according to the paper's sources, French industrialist Vincent Bollore, who owns over 5 percent of Vivendi, was not happy with the possibility of a German heading the two "jewels" (fleurons) of French industry, satellite TV broadcaster Canal Plus and telecom operator SFR.
Vivendi’s supervisory board chairman, Jean-Rene Fourtou, did not have the same objection but Rabe nevertheless withdrew his hat from the race, the report said. Canal Plus CEO Bertrand Meheut also bowed out after his candidacy was dryly received by Fourtou. Bollore is now going for the job himself, but will not be able to get it without Fourtou’s greenlight. The nominating committee is due to meet during the week of 9 September. The supervisory committee is expected to ratify the decision before the end of the month.
