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Media empire born { September 2 2003 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14339-2003Sep2.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14339-2003Sep2.html

MEDIA EMPIRE BORN: UNIVERSALUSANBCCNBCMSNBCBRAVO
Vivendi Reaches 'Good Deal' in Bid Search

By JAMEY KEATEN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 2, 2003; 11:36 AM

PARIS - Board members from Vivendi Universal emerged Tuesday from a meeting to weigh bids for the company's entertainment assets saying they were satisfied and had found a good deal.

"I think we are in front of a very good deal," said Vivendi board member Fernando Falco y Fernadez de Cordova.

He and other company officials gave no details on the deal. The company was to hold a news conference later Tuesday.

The board of the French media and utilities giant met in Paris to weigh bids from two final suitors for its U.S. entertainment businesses. One was General Electric Co.'s NBC; the other a group led by investor Edgar J. Bronfman Jr.

Published reports Monday indicated that NBC had a lead in the long-running auction for the Vivendi Universal Entertainment properties, which include the Universal film and TV studios, three cable TV networks and theme parks.

The Wall Street Journal said in Tuesday's editions that Vivendi was expected to sign a nonbinding letter of intent to negotiate exclusively with NBC on a deal for a limited period. If a deal cannot be reached, both sides could walk away, the story said.

Vivendi would get a stake in the combined media and entertainment business and could eventually sell it if it wanted to raise cash.

The Journal said that Vivendi-NBC scenario presumes that the Bronfman group does not make a last-minute improvement in its offer.

Bronfman, who once controlled the Universal properties as chief executive of Seagram Co., spent the weekend in a last-ditch lobbying effort to salvage his bid, a source familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

Vivendi has been hoping to fetch US$14 billion for the Universal assets to pay down huge debts run up during a buyout spree under former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier.

After a board meeting in Paris last week, Vivendi said an eventual agreement with either NBC or the Bronfman group would leave the French company with a "substantial" stake in a U.S. media group. It also said it would explore a public offering for the entertainment assets.

Some of the biggest titans of the U.S. media world expressed in Vivendi's entertainment arm during the monthslong bidding process, including cable TV mogul John Malone of Liberty Media Corp., CBS and MTV parent Viacom Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Both MGM and Malone said they were dropping out of the bidding process because they felt the price was too high. Viacom had expressed interest only in the cable channels, and was effectively left out of the final round of bidding when Vivendi said it would continue talks only with NBC and Bronfman's group.

The Bronfman-led group includes Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity fund, and Cablevision Systems Corp., a cable TV company in New York that owns AMC, the Independent Film Channel and WE: Women's Entertainment channels.


© 2003 The Associated Press



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