France's Vivendi taps Genish as chief convergence officer

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Vivendi SA (VIV.PA) has tapped Amos Genish, the former head of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica SA's (TEF.MC) Brazil unit, to lead an effort to converge the French media company's content, platforms and media distribution strategies.

Genish was named chief convergence officer and will be based in London and Paris, Vivendi said in a statement.

Genish, an Israeli citizen, sold Brazilian phone carrier GVT SA to Vivendi in 2009. Vivendi sold GVT to the local unit of Spain's Telefónica SA in 2015 and appointed Genish as chief executive of the company's Brazilian unit.

Under his tenure, Telefónica Brasil (VIVT4.SA) grew at the expense of rivals and became Brazil's most profitable carrier in spite of the worst recession in more than eight decades.

Genish stepped down as chief executive in October, citing unspecified personal reasons. He was replaced by Eduardo Navarro.

Earlier on Wednesday, Telefónica Brasil said Genish had resigned from the company's board, turning his seat over to José María Del Rey Osorio. He also quit his post as head of the company's strategy committee.

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Bruno Federowski; Editing by Leslie Adler)