uisceboo
06-29-2003, 08:34 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/95937p-86928c.html
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New York Daily News - Viacom wants to buy
Vivendi's cable nets
By PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
Friday, June 27th, 2003
Mel and Sumner are jumping into the Vivendi derby.
Add Viacom bosses Mel Karmazin and Sumner Redstone to a star-studded list of media honchos bidding to buy the Vivendi Universal entertainment assets.
CBS-owner Viacom has "expressed interest" in Vivendi's cable networks, Sci Fi Channel and USA Network, sources said yesterday.
But the powerful media giant isn't looking to buy the other Vivendi media assets, which include the Universal theme parks, movie studio, and music empire.
With Viacom joining the party, there are now six groups in what has turned into the most high profile auction of media assets in years.
The other bidders are General Electric's NBC, John Malone's Liberty Media, former Seagram boss Edgar Bronfman Jr., oil tycoon Marvin Davis, and Kirk Kerkorian's MGM. The offers will be presented to a July 1 board meeting, and in the following weeks the field will be narrowed to two or three bidders.
By planting their flag now, Karmazin and Redstone are positioning themselves for a side deal down the road.
Under one possible scenario, the suitor who ends up with the entire Vivendi entertainment empire would look to sell some assets to help fund the deal. That's when Viacom would show up ready to take Sci Fi and possibly USA off the buyer's hands.
"At some point, some of the bidders may join up," a source said.
Viacom's primary interest is in Sci Fi, home of the hit Steven Spielberg mini-series "Taken." The media giant specializes in niche cable networks with highly defined audiences, like teen magnet MTV.
Sci Fi is especially desirable because it would make a good home for Viacom's library of "Star Trek" reruns and movies, said S.G. Cowen media analyst Lowell Singer.
But bagging the Vivendi cable networks is far from a sure thing. Some of the Vivendi bidders would almost surely hold on to Sci Fi and USA if they won.
That list includes NBC, which wants to expand its cable programing portfolio and MGM, which sees the cable nets as a distribution platform for its vast film library.
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New York Daily News - Viacom wants to buy
Vivendi's cable nets
By PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
Friday, June 27th, 2003
Mel and Sumner are jumping into the Vivendi derby.
Add Viacom bosses Mel Karmazin and Sumner Redstone to a star-studded list of media honchos bidding to buy the Vivendi Universal entertainment assets.
CBS-owner Viacom has "expressed interest" in Vivendi's cable networks, Sci Fi Channel and USA Network, sources said yesterday.
But the powerful media giant isn't looking to buy the other Vivendi media assets, which include the Universal theme parks, movie studio, and music empire.
With Viacom joining the party, there are now six groups in what has turned into the most high profile auction of media assets in years.
The other bidders are General Electric's NBC, John Malone's Liberty Media, former Seagram boss Edgar Bronfman Jr., oil tycoon Marvin Davis, and Kirk Kerkorian's MGM. The offers will be presented to a July 1 board meeting, and in the following weeks the field will be narrowed to two or three bidders.
By planting their flag now, Karmazin and Redstone are positioning themselves for a side deal down the road.
Under one possible scenario, the suitor who ends up with the entire Vivendi entertainment empire would look to sell some assets to help fund the deal. That's when Viacom would show up ready to take Sci Fi and possibly USA off the buyer's hands.
"At some point, some of the bidders may join up," a source said.
Viacom's primary interest is in Sci Fi, home of the hit Steven Spielberg mini-series "Taken." The media giant specializes in niche cable networks with highly defined audiences, like teen magnet MTV.
Sci Fi is especially desirable because it would make a good home for Viacom's library of "Star Trek" reruns and movies, said S.G. Cowen media analyst Lowell Singer.
But bagging the Vivendi cable networks is far from a sure thing. Some of the Vivendi bidders would almost surely hold on to Sci Fi and USA if they won.
That list includes NBC, which wants to expand its cable programing portfolio and MGM, which sees the cable nets as a distribution platform for its vast film library.
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