Vivendi, Seagram, Cox Plan $100 Billion, Three-Way Merger, Newspaper Says
By John Coppock
London, March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vivendi SA, Seagram Co. Ltd.
and Cox Communications Inc. are holding three-way merger talks
that if successful will create one of the world's largest media
companies with a market value of more than $100 billion, the
Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported, citing an unidentified person
close to the negotiations. The companies have been in talks for up
to eight weeks, and Vivendi's board is expected to meet today to
approve its part in the merger, the newspaper said. Vivendi would
merge its media operations, including a 24.9 percent stake in
British Sky Broadcasting Plc, with those of Seagram, which owns
Universal Studios in Hollywood; this entity would then be combined
with Cox, which owns one of the largest cable networks in the
U.S., the newspaper reported.
Two of the three companies involved are privately controlled:
Canada's Seagram, which owns some of the world's best known
spirits brands including Chivas regal whisky, is controlled by the
Bronfman family, while Cox of the U.S. is 65 percent held by the
Cox family. |
