Word: vivendi
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...names sniffing around Vivendi's entertainment assets include Liberty Media's John Malone, General Electric's NBC, Viacom, MGM, and oil tycoon and former Fox owner Marvin Davis. USA Interactive head Barry Diller's blocking rights and ownership stake add to the intrigue. Vivendi last fall rejected as too low Davis' reported offer of $15 billion plus $5 billion in debt assumption, but Davis hasn't given up. Malone's dealmaking prowess and close ties with Diller give him an edge...
...only Edgar Bronfman Jr. could borrow the powers of God, like Jim Carrey in Universal Pictures' Bruce Almighty. Then the former CEO of Seagram, the distiller that once owned Universal, could turn back time and erase the disastrous sale of the firm his family founded to France's Vivendi. Since that deal in December 2000, Vivendi Universal's stock has dropped 71%, devastating the Bronfman family fortune. And Edgar Jr., despite some successes at Seagram, has reinforced his image as dilettante and wannabe mogul. Business Week crowned him one of the worst managers of 2002, and New York magazine called...
...mere mortal, albeit still a rich and well-connected one, Bronfman, 48, has to confront his past in the old-fashioned way. Shortly after Vivendi announced plans to shed $7 billion in debt this year by unloading entertainment assets, including its film studios, music group, TV networks and theme parks, Bronfman last week declared his desire to buy them back...
...businesses, many in Hollywood and on Wall Street doubt he has what it takes to run them. Still, the ploy may be his best shot at redeeming his, and his family's, tarnished fortune and reputation. If nothing else, it might boost the value of their holdings in Vivendi...
When Bronfman sold Seagram to Vivendi for shares of the French utility and telecommunications company's stock, he wasn't the only media exec seduced by an ill-considered merger; the wedding of Time Warner (parent of TIME) to AOL comes to mind. But that's not much comfort to the Bronfman clan, which has seen its stake shrivel (in part because of stock sales) from $6.5 billion to a little more than $1 billion. So where will Edgar Jr. get the money for his bid? Analysts say Universal Music Group could sell for about $7 billion, and the rest...