LONDON: European stock markets were steady Monday as major cross-border takeover activity provided support, notably Vivendi's purchase of Vodafone's stake in French mobile phone operator SFR for 7.75 billion euros.
In late morning trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 0.18 percent to 6,009.67 points, the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.10 percent to 4,050.75 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 edged up 0.08 percent to 7,186.01.
The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies was flat at 2,962.97 points.
British mobile phone giant Vodafone confirmed Monday that it was selling its 44 percent stake in French rival SFR to media group Vivendi for 7.75 billion euros ($11 billion) in cash.
Vodafone said it would return £4.0 billion (4.5 billion euros, $6.5 billion) of the net proceeds to its shareholders by way of buying back shares, while the remainder would be used to reduce the company's debt.
In London, Vodafone's share price was up 0.87 percent to 180.65 pence while in Paris Vivendi climbed 0.39 percent to 20.60 euros.
Elsewhere Monday, Belgian chemicals and plastics group Solvay made a friendly takeover bid for its French rival Rhodia worth 3.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) to create a world leader in the sector.
Solvay said it was offering 31.60 euros per Rhodia share, a 50 percent premium to the closing share price on Friday. In Paris, Rhodia shares jumped nearly 50 percent in early trade.
Japanese shares ended mixed as better-than-expected US jobs data and a weak yen was offset by worries over the ongoing battle to avoid a catastrophe at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, traders said.
The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.11 percent to 9,718.89 points while the Topix index of all first section shares fell 0.33 percent.
US stock markets rose Friday as traders welcomed a drop in US unemployment. Consumer goods firms led the Dow's rise, after news that the US jobless rate fell for the fourth straight month in March, to 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent in February.
It was the lowest level of unemployment since March 2009, thanks to stronger job creation, the Labor Department said in a report signalling a turnaround in the troubled labor market.
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