Dirigisme de rigueur

摘要

When Vivendi, a French telecoms and media group, announced a deal to buy gvt, a Brazilian telecoms firm, for €2 billion ($2.9 billion) in September, the last thing it expected was a scolding from the Elysee Palace, the official residence of France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy. His staff complained that they should have been briefed as the deal was being negotiated, which might then have allowed Mr Sarkozy to bask in the glory during his recent visit to Brazil.