Shares in Vodafone fell almost 2 percent on Monday on a report that its French joint venture partner plans to pay less than some expected to buy it out.

Vodafone is holding talks with Vivendi over the sale of its 44 percent stake in SFR, their French mobile joint venture, and a report in the Financial Times said Vivendi was unwilling to pay much more than 6 billion pounds for the minority stake.

Analysts covering Vodafone believe some in the market had expected the British firm to receive nearer to 7 billion pounds for the asset, which has been singled out for sale as part of Vodafone’s strategy to sell off units it does not fully control.

Vodafone declined to comment on the report, and a source familiar with the situation said simply that talks were ongoing. The source added that a deadline for a deal had not been set however, as some other media reports have suggested.

bron:Reuters