The battle between French cable operator Numericable and conglomerate Bouygues for Vivendi’s SFR unit has pitched a cast of European bankers against each other.

Both Numericable and Bouygues submitted improved bids for the SFR unit this week in an effort to secure France's second-biggest mobile-phone company. The Vivendi supervisory board is meeting at 10am on Friday with the bankers on both sides awaiting their fate.