By Sylvie Dale, Online Editor
June 18, 2002 -- French company Vivendi's recently announced plans to sell off more than a third of its stake in its environmental division have caused the company's stock to go up in value.
Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier announced plans to give up control of Vivendi Environnement Monday in an apparent attempt to shed debt and help the parent company's share price, Reuters News Service reported.
The announcement still has not explained how Vivendi's stake in the division would be doled out or how the company would use the money after the sale.
Vivendi currently owns 63 percent of its Environnement division and would reduce that amount to just over 40 percent with the sale.
Shares in Vivendi Universal climbed as high as 3.5 percent early Tuesday, Reuters reported. The parent company Vivendi saw an increase of one percent to about 29.99 euros. The utility shares rose 2.6 percent.
The proposed sale is sensitive because of French President Jacques Chirac's insistence that the water supply remain in French hands. Vivendi sources have said that it would work to make sure enough shares went into French-owned company hands so that a majority of Vivendi Environnement remained French.
