French conglomerate Vivendi has suspended co-operation talks with Mannesmann in a sudden twist to the battle for control of the German telecoms operator, an industry source said yesterday.

"Talks with Mannesmann are adding that Vivendi was "increasingly sensitive" to offers from British mobile phone operator Vodafone AirTouch and British Telecom "which fully optimise its Internet strategy".

Mannesmann - which had launched talks with several groups in its efforts to escape Vodafone's hostile take-over bid - has repeatedly mentioned co-operating with Vivendi but never got down to serious business, the source said.

"It looked like they were making fools of Vivendi," he said.

Vivendi controls France's major private telephone operator Cegetel through its 44 per cent stake.