Vivendi eyeing Orascom Telecom's Algerian unit: report

PARIS (Reuters) - Vivendi, which is keen to expand in emerging markets, could be eyeing the Algerian subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Telecom, French daily La Tribune reports on Friday.

A member of Vivendi's board of directors, Mehdi Dazi, was in Algiers last Saturday to meet with local businessmen, notably Issad Rebrab, the head of Algerian group Cevital, which has a 3 percent stake in Orascom Telecom Algeria, the paper said.

Cevital could join forces with Vivendi to buy the unit, which serves more than 14 million mobile telephone customers in Algeria and had revenue of over $2 billion last year, it said.

Vivendi could not be immediately reached for comment.

Earlier this month, Vivendi gained control of GVT, the Brazilian broadband operator, in a deal worth 2.8 billion euros.

Vivendi, which already has a majority stake in Maroc Telecom, has said it wants to expand in emerging markets given its mature portfolio which includes France's second-biggest mobile phone operator SFR.