Mmmm... Corporate Greed

[Guest MrRant]

By Martin Peers and Bruce Orwall, Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

 

 

 

As Vivendi Universal SA's auction of its film and television businesses drags on, the French media and telecom conglomerate may be close to attracting a deep-pocketed potential bidder that could shake up the contest.

 

Comcast Corp., the biggest cable-television operator in the U.S., has decided to take a preliminary look at Vivendi's assets, which include Universal Studios and the USA cable channel, people familiar with the matter said. If Comcast decided to make a bid, it would join a field that includes Liberty Media Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and an investor group led by former Seagram Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.

 

Vivendi has been hoping to attract more bidders, unhappy with the level of bids received in the first round. Most bids are thought to have been in the range of $11 billion to $11.5 billion, which Vivendi believes is too low. It has indicated it will abandon a private sale and sell stock in the assets in an initial public offering if it doesn't end up getting a higher price.

 

Whether Comcast is serious is hard to determine. People familiar with the matter insisted Comcast's interest is preliminary but genuine. The company is considering putting together a proposal and has informed Vivendi of its interest. Aside from operating cable systems that serve nearly 22 million subscribers, Comcast owns part or all of cable networks such as E! Entertainment and the Golf Channel. It recently agreed to sell its majority stake in the QVC home shopping cable channel to Liberty for roughly $8 billion, although that money has been earmarked to reduce the debt Comcast took on when it bought AT&T Corp.'s cable operations last year.

 

Vivendi's assets are "relevant" to Comcast's business, said one person familiar with the situation. Indeed, Comcast often has been the subject of speculation about its interest in acquiring content companies such as Walt Disney Co., for example. Buying Vivendi's entertainment assets would make Comcast a fully integrated media company -- with cable distribution, cable networks and a film studio -- that would compete more directly with AOL Time Warner Inc. and News Corp.

 

Until now, for example, GE or Liberty have been seen as the front-runners in the auction -- a scenario that would radically change with Comcast in the picture. The move also would pressure some of the auction's more aggressive bidders, such as MGM, to step up with more lucrative proposals. MGM has submitted an $11.5 billion bid, the richest proposal for the assets yet.

 

Vivendi Chairman and CEO Jean-Rene Fourtou was in New York over the past week, where he talked with most of the bidders. Vivendi executives are expected to meet with bidding groups over the next few days to discuss in more detail the price that Vivendi wants to get, as well as other issues, such as how much upfront cash the French company is hoping for.

 

Vivendi is hoping to get another round of bids by mid-August, allowing it to narrow down talks to one or two players and get a deal by Labor Day.

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Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

Makes me feel good to be part of the EVIL~! giant corporation. MUAHAHAHAHAHA~!

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Die.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Die.

[Guest MrRant]

OMG~! WISHING DEATH ON ANOTHER POSTER~!

 

BAN HIM~!

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

...

 

Don't give into corporate special interests~!

[Guest MrRant]

Those interest benefit me.

 

Mmmm.... stock options.

[Guest JMA]

But they're FRENCH~!

 

[Guest MrRant]

We are taking back Universal and USA from the French.