Vivendi will scrutinise the latest, improved offer from Bouygues for its SFR unit while sticking to its previous pledge for exclusive negotiations with rival bidder Altice, according to Le Figaro.

Vivendi chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou (pictured) sent a letter dated 24 March to counterpart Martin Bouygues in which he said Vivendi “will examine the offer with all the necessary rigour, according to the criteria set out by the board, while strictly applying our exclusivity pledge.”

In an attempt to disrupt the Vivendi-Altice talks, Bouygues made an offer on 21 March of €13.15 billion in cash for a controlling stake in SFR and a 21.5 per cent stake in the merged entity of SFR-Bouygues.

However, Vivendi announced a week previously that it would enter a three week period when it will exclusively consider the rival bid from Altice, which owns French cable operator Numericable.

The exclusivity period is sent to end on 4 April. If no deal is concluded by that date, Vivendi is available to consider other offers, including the one from Bouygues.

Mobile World Live contacted Vivendi about how it can examine the Bouygues offer while locked into exclusive talks with a rival bidder but the company declined to give any further explanation beyond pointing to its 14 March decision to spend three weeks in negotiations with Altice.

Altice has offered €11.75 billion in cash and a 32 percent stake in the merged entity. Its cash element is lower but a higher equity stake is on offer and of course it brings far less regulatory risk.