AyuRocks
07-01-2003, 12:36 PM
Vivendi Board Discusses Messier Severance
By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer
PARIS - Vivendi Universal's board met Tuesday to consider several offers for its U.S. entertainment assets as well as a costly severance package awarded to former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier, who was ousted last year after leading a buyout spree.
The meeting opened just days after a U.S. arbitration tribunal ordered Vivendi to pay Messier $23.5 million in severance. The company plans to appeal the ruling.
Last week, Vivendi quietly accepted at least six bids for its Vivendi Universal Entertainment assets, including its Universal film, television, music and theme park businesses. Vivendi is expected to take several weeks to weigh the offers and make a decision by the end of the summer.
Liberty Media Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Viacom Inc., plus investor groups led by tycoons Marvin Davis and Edgar Bronfman Jr. were among the bidders, company officials told The Associated Press on condition that their names not be used.
Vivendi said last month that Bronfman and his father, Edgar Bronfman Sr., had suspended their participation on the company board after announcing an interest in the U.S. entertainment assets.
In the dispute over severance pay, Vivendi had argued before the New York arbitration panel that Messier wasn't owed the money because he had resigned voluntarily and claimed the severance contract that he was granted hadn't been approved by the board of directors.
The large award for Messier was a surprise to many observers because he had expressed opposition to such "golden parachutes" in a 2000 book he wrote.
The boyish-looking Messier amassed billions of dollars in debt in his efforts to transform the company from a water utility into a media empire. The buyout binge caused the company's shares to fall more than 80 percent, leading to his ouster last July.
Messier was renowned for a lavish lifestyle, which included a multimillion-dollar home he bought on Park Avenue in Manhattan after striking an array of deals that led to the creation of Vivendi.
Jean-Rene Fourtou, Messier's lower-profile successor, began selling off assets such as Vivendi's publishing division, its Internet holdings and even art works in a bid to revive the company. Fourtou has sought to focus primarily on Vivendi's mobile phone businesses.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030701/ap_on_bi_ge/vivendi_universal_2
Ashley
By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer
PARIS - Vivendi Universal's board met Tuesday to consider several offers for its U.S. entertainment assets as well as a costly severance package awarded to former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier, who was ousted last year after leading a buyout spree.
The meeting opened just days after a U.S. arbitration tribunal ordered Vivendi to pay Messier $23.5 million in severance. The company plans to appeal the ruling.
Last week, Vivendi quietly accepted at least six bids for its Vivendi Universal Entertainment assets, including its Universal film, television, music and theme park businesses. Vivendi is expected to take several weeks to weigh the offers and make a decision by the end of the summer.
Liberty Media Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Viacom Inc., plus investor groups led by tycoons Marvin Davis and Edgar Bronfman Jr. were among the bidders, company officials told The Associated Press on condition that their names not be used.
Vivendi said last month that Bronfman and his father, Edgar Bronfman Sr., had suspended their participation on the company board after announcing an interest in the U.S. entertainment assets.
In the dispute over severance pay, Vivendi had argued before the New York arbitration panel that Messier wasn't owed the money because he had resigned voluntarily and claimed the severance contract that he was granted hadn't been approved by the board of directors.
The large award for Messier was a surprise to many observers because he had expressed opposition to such "golden parachutes" in a 2000 book he wrote.
The boyish-looking Messier amassed billions of dollars in debt in his efforts to transform the company from a water utility into a media empire. The buyout binge caused the company's shares to fall more than 80 percent, leading to his ouster last July.
Messier was renowned for a lavish lifestyle, which included a multimillion-dollar home he bought on Park Avenue in Manhattan after striking an array of deals that led to the creation of Vivendi.
Jean-Rene Fourtou, Messier's lower-profile successor, began selling off assets such as Vivendi's publishing division, its Internet holdings and even art works in a bid to revive the company. Fourtou has sought to focus primarily on Vivendi's mobile phone businesses.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030701/ap_on_bi_ge/vivendi_universal_2
Ashley