Vivendi under financial pressure

UNDER PRESSURE: As UMG awaits a ruling on its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI Music, shares of parent company Vivendi are at their lowest point in nine years, and a new Fitch Ratings report confirms the company’s BBB rating—the second- lowest investment grade—stating that the rating “would come under pressure” unless debt is reduced, Bloomberg reports. Moody’s gave a similar warning yesterday. Since April, analysts at Fitch, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have written notes about Vivendi’s limited debt headroom, citing the EMI acquisition, along with increased competition in the French phone market. (6/28a)