Mr Messier switched Vivendi from utilities into media

A US Federal court granted a request from the country's top financial watchdog to block the payment to ex-Vivendi boss Jean-Marie Messier.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether Vivendi broke rules on transparency during Mr Messier's time at the helm.

The court ruling means Mr Messier's 20.5m euros ($23.5m; �14.2m) pay-off must be set aside in a special account while the SEC inquiry continues.

No tears

Vivendi has said it is fully co-operating with the SEC.

Vivendi itself has been involved in a lengthy tussle with Mr Messier over the size of his golden handshake.

He stepped down as chief executive in July 2002 after being widely blamed for dragging the media group into a financial mess.

However, Vivendi has made progress in turning itself around, and reported an improvement in core profits earlier in the day.

Recovery

Operating profit rose 20% to 1.7bn euros (�1.2bn) in the first half of the year, as the firm's radical downsizing gets underway.

Despite the marked improvement, the firm is still reporting a net loss of 632m euros.

But the loss, while still significant, is tiny compared to the 12.3bn euros lost the previous year.

That loss added to the firm's 35bn euro debt mountain run up during a frenetic spending spree.

The acquisition spree has now turned into a season of sell-offs, in order to tackle the debt.

New chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou has launched a sweeping programme of cost-cuts and asset sales to cut Vivendi's debts.

The sell-off has included the disposal of its US show business assets, including Hollywood's Universal Studios, to cable TV network NBC.

Vivendi said that once the sale of its entertainment arm was complete its debt would fall to under 5bn euros by the end of next year.

Investors cheered the firm's progress on Wednesday by sending its shares up 2.8% in early trade in Paris.