26/06/2003

The sale of Vivendi Universal Entertainment is firming up. On 24 June, five potential purchasers of the media giant’s American activities stepped up and made themselves known to Jean-René Fourtou , the president and CEO of VU. Fourtou and his board decided to sell off VU assets either in packets or in a one-off deal.

The five aspiring owners of the Universal Film Studio, the various theme parks, Universal Music, the video games and TV interests are General Electric, Edgar Bronfman, Liberty Media, Marvin Davis and MGM. The favourite to win the crown is John Malone’s Liberty Media whose offer of Euros15b covers all of the above listed companies. However the bids could climb as high as Euros20b (debts included) because of the differences between the potential buyers’ respective strategies. Some have shown a clear preference for one or two sectors ; Edgar Bronfman would like to buy Universal Music while MGM’s goal is the film studio. Liberty Media is said to be ready to sell Universal Music, should its bid for VUE be accepted.
Whatever the outcome, this sale means the end of Vivendi Universal’s and especially its former CEO Jean-Marie Messier’s disastrous attempt to scale the American media market. After his resignation and the advent of Fourtou, it was decided to refocus the group’s activities on France. This also includes Canal+ who just ended their joint venture with Spain’s Prisa (Sogecable), a territory that the French group seems set to leave.

(Translated from French)