Briefcase

Media

Vivendi Universal plans to sell publishing assets

Vivendi Universal said Wednesday it planned to sell its European and Latin American publishing businesses to French media and defense conglomerate Lagardere SCA, raising badly needed cash to reduce its debts.

The sale would mark the breakup of Vivendi Universal Publishing’s U.S. and European divisions and ease fears among France’s political and cultural establishment that its French-language publications would fall into foreign hands.

Vivendi did not disclose the exact price of the sale. But it said the deal values the businesses being sold at an estimated $1.22 billion including debt.

Cable

Charter places executive on paid leave over probe

Charter Communications Inc. placed its chief operating officer on paid leave as a federal grand jury investigates the cable company’s accounting practices.

It was not clear what role David G. Barford has in the probe.

“The company determined that the most appropriate course of action at this time is to place Mr. Barford on paid leave pending the result of the investigation, after which this status would be reviewed,” Charter said in a statement Tuesday.

St. Louis-based Charter is the nation’s fourth-largest cable company, with 6.8 million customers.

Utilities

Aquila to cut more jobs

Aquila Inc. plans to cut about 200 more jobs by the end of the year as the utility moves away from energy dealing.

With those cuts and others, the company says it will have shed nearly 25 percent of its work force by the end of the year.

Richard Green Jr., the company’s top executive, announced the cuts on Tuesday. Green did not announce what jobs may be cut.

Wall Street

Earnings of interest

AOL Time Warner announced Wednesday that it posted a profit of 1 cent per share for the most recent quarter compared to a loss of 22 cents per share during the same period a year ago.

DST Systems Inc. posted a quarterly profit of 42 cents a share compared to 39 cents a year ago. The financial services firm operates a servicing center in Lawrence.