Vivendi is looking at splitting off its SFR mobile unit as a means to focus on its media investments, according to Bloomberg.

Discussions have gained momentum since a board meeting in February, said the report, citing a number of sources within Vivendi. The French mobile operator would be spun off with most of its parent’s debt.

SFR is the country’s second-largest mobile operator and contributed almost 40 per cent of Vivendi’s 2012 revenue.

No final decision has been reached and it’s still possible that the French company will opt for an alternative strategy.

The possibility of a SFR spin-off has grown more likely since Vivendi suspended the sale last week of GVT, a fixed telecoms operator in Brazil, because bids were short of its EUR8 billion asking price.

However, a separation of Vivendi’s mobile and media businesses might take as long as three to five years to complete.

In the shorter term, the company hopes to sell off its interest in Maroc Telecom although media reports this week said the sale would not go through before Vivendi’s annual shareholders meeting on 30 April.

The French company holds a 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s fixed and mobile operator. The operator, which has 18 million mobile subscribers, has attracted a number of bids including from Etisalat, Qatar Telecom and South Korea’s KT. The funds raised would be invested in expanding Vivendi’s media business.

But Vivendi has failed to find an attractive bid for its 61 per cent stake in games maker Activision, another source of funds.

But a SFR spin-off has been discussed before and never materialised. And SFR’s valuation has suffered with the rise of competition in the French mobile market during 2012. Newcomer Free Mobile’s cut-price deals have hit the market’s incumbents, including SFR.