Vodafone  said yesterday it had agreed a €6.3 billion cash deal to buy the stakes held by BT Group and SBC Communications in Cegetel, which controls SFR, France's second-largest mobile operator.

The UK mobile phone group said it had also made a €6.77 billion offer to Vivendi Universal, the cash-strapped French media and entertainment group, for its 44 per cent stake in Cegetel. The non-binding offer to Vivendi closes on October 30th.

The offers are the latest moves in an increasingly tense battle between Vodafone and Vivendi for control of SFR, sparked by the expiry of crucial "standstill rights" between the four shareholders in September.

Vodafone holds a 20 per cent direct holding in SFR and a 15 per cent stake in Cegetel, which owns 80 per cent of SFR.

BT has a 26 per cent stake in Cegetel, while SBC owns 15 per cent.

Vodafone's offer, higher than its initial bid last month, puts the ball firmly in Vivendi's court, as the French group has "pre-emption" rights, allowing it to make a counter-offer for the stakes owned by SBC and BT.

Vivendi declined to comment on whether it intended to exercise its rights before the deadline of November 10th.

Vodafone said any counter offer from Vivendi would need to be at the same price it offered BT but the French group would have to pay a 13 per cent premium to its offer for SBC's holding.

Vodafone said it would win management control of Cegetel and SFR if it acquired both the SBC and BT stakes, which would lift its economic ownership in Cegetel to about 56 per cent.

But someone close to Vivendi said voting rights held by its subsidiary Transtel would allow it a majority of seats on Cegetel's board.