Still, It's Nice to Know You're Wanted

Vivendi CEO Jean-René Fourtou got his first good news in months last week when Texas oil magnate Marvin Davis ponied up $20 billion for the group's U.S. entertainment assets. The stock leapt by over 20% on the news. Investors got even more interested after Vivendi officials played hard to get — spurning Davis' offer as both incompatible with group strategy and insultingly low. "When a guy offers $20 billion for our U.S. group, we tell him to take a hike," says a Vivendi official in Paris. "If he offers $40 billion, maybe we might take it more seriously but still not...