London - European shares kicked off March on a flat note on Monday, with a boost from merger activity in the telecoms sector offset by falls in media group Vivendi.
The French media group said on Friday it had agreed to sell its remaining stake in telecoms company Numericable-SFR to Altice at 40 euros per share - well below Numericable-SFR's share price of 55.40 euros on Friday.
Shares in Altice surged 4.2 percent to be among the top risers on the FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares, which was up 0.1 percent at 1,565.37 points at 0816 GMT. It had recorded its highest close in seven years on Friday.
Numericable's shares were up 5.5 percent while Vivendi fell 5.5 percent to the bottom of the index despite announcing a share buyback and dividend.
Reuters