The largest American satellite television provider, DirecTV, has ended its chase of Vivendi's GVT. The pull out only complicates the sale of the Brazilian telecommunications service provider.

The same was confirmed by a DirecTV spokesperson saying the company 'chose not to move forward in its pursuit of GVT and has withdrawn from the process." This is a setback for Vivendi as it removes the single strategic buyer from the bidding process. As a result, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the sale has been placed on hold for the meantime.

The other bidding party is a consortium of private equity firms comprised of KKR. This group priced GVT lower than what had been offered by DirecTV.

GVT was offered for sale after Vivendi reviewed its portfolio of businesses. Vivendi is currently the largest media and telecommunications company, with interests in mobile telephony, video games and music. Also offered for sale is its shareholding sin Maroc Telecom.