EU opens in depth-investigation in the Vivendi-Lagardere deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it had opened an in-depth investigation to assess Vivendi's planned acquisition of rival Lagardere, a deal that would combine France's two biggest publishing groups.

"The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition on a number of markets across the entire book value chain in French-speaking countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) and in a segment of magazine publishing in France," EU's watchdog said in a statement.

Reuters had reported this EU antitrust investigation earlier this month.

The Commission now has until 19 April 2023, to take a decision.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Geert De Clercq and Tassilo Hummel)