Jean-Marie Messier, chairman and chief executive of Vivendi Universal, is heading for another showdown with shareholders after they voted against plans for a controversial €1.8bn ($1.6bn) options scheme at last week's annual meeting.

Messier told analysts in a conference call after the meeting that he would call another shareholder meeting to push the options scheme, but in the meantime he would use stock options left over from last year's scheme to incentivise some employees. Messier would have to reprice the options from last year's scheme to make them attractive to staff.