1. Introduction
2. VVDS-Deep sample
3. Statistics of minor close companions in spectroscopic samples
4. The minor merger fraction of \(L_{B} \gtrsim L_{B}^{*}\) galaxies
5. The minor merger fraction of red and blue galaxies
6. The minor merger rate of \(L_{B} \gtrsim L_{B}^{*}\) galaxies
7. Discussion
8. Summary and conclusions