Indebted French operator, Vivendi has withdrawn the sale of GVT – its Brazilian subsidiary, after the highest bidder pulled out from the purchase.

The France based conglomerate had sought to raise at least US$9 billion from the sale, but DirecTV pulled out after making their final offer, leaving just an even lower offer from a group of private equity investors.

“GVT is a good asset and we’ll continue to develop it,” a spokesman for Vivendi said on Friday. “The offers we received so far are not satisfactory. We said all along that we would not sell assets at knock-down prices.”

The company has been looking to sell assets to pay down debts built up under the former CEO.

Talks to sell its 53% controlling stake in Maroc Telecom are said to be continuing, and there is renewed speculation that it may sell a stake in its French mobile network, SFR.

However, a spokesman for Vivendi recently commented that “SFR is not for sale.” and is looking at other options to cut costs in the increasingly competitive marketplace.