Vivendi in the news... again

[NebariNookiee]

Rift Grows Between Vivendi and Diller's USA

Vivendi Universal acknowledged today (Monday) that it is trying to resolve a dispute with Barry Diller's USA Interactive, which claims that under the deal between the two companies, Vivendi had agreed to cover taxes owed by USA for its stake in the partnership. Vivendi claims that USA incorrectly interpreted the contract conditions.

[CosmicTheorist]

I have been trying to follow all the Vivendi stories that have been posted on Farscape sites and this story sounds very much like Vivendi is trying to sell Diller's old television networks, USA and Skiffy. What I remember reading is that the tax liabilities were supposed to be triggered if and when Vivendi decides to sell these "assets". Of course, I could be misremembering. Could you point me in the direction of your source for this story? Thanks.

[JA_Shipper]

Wouldn't that be something ... if Barry Diller got snookered by contract minutiae ... :ewink:

Yeah, I know, he's probably too smart for that, but it would be interesting to think that for a minute he might know what it's like to be in our shoes. :finger:

Suse

[CosmicTheorist]

Last week there was news that Vivendi was acquiring a mobile phone company in France. I remember (again I may have this wrong) that Vivendi Universal was required to come up with 4 billion dollars for this acquisition, most of this money being raised through bank loans.

When I read this I thought that it explained why Barry was "squeezing" Vivendi's entertainment assets to build up some sort of cash reserve; this "squeezing" was reported in an even earlier story. Barry was doing the heavy lifting getting the money for his French co-CEO Fourtou to make that acquisition in France. I suspect that Barry hoped this "favor" would obligate Fourtou to him so that Fourtou would not interfere with Barry's plans to build his own entertainment empire. This "favor" is what got Farscape cancelled, I believe, and not any "ratings decline" or "rising costs".

At the time that I read about the French acquisition, I wondered if Barry might be dealing with someone who would be inclined to sell the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal out from under him. There have been a lot of offers lately. Maybe Fourtou is getting ready to sell Skiffy.

[Kerlin]

I'm a little confused...say Henson/Skiffy/Vivendi/whoever it is were sold. Would this be a good thing, from the Farscape POV? Or would our fortunes basically be precisely the same, but targetted toward a new company?

[waltersgirl]

Henson, Skiffy and Vivendi are 3 different entities. Vivendi is part of Universal Vivendi, now parent company of USA and Skiffy. Henson is owned by German company EM.TV.

Vivendi Universal is trying to sell it's US entertainment assets. EM.TV has been trying to sell Henson for, i believe, almost two years now, despite the fact that Henson is one of the only assets bringing EM.TV a profit.

as to the effect on Farscape were any of those sales to complete...your guess is a good as the next guy's.

[Scaper989]

This can only be good for our prospects since, under the current
relationship, Farscape was canceled. If skiffy is seperated from
Vivendi it might not be under Diller's influence anymore. Hopefully
someone who actually appreciates and LIKES good science fiction
will take over the reigns. If/when Henson gets sold, it will be to a
company with more money to invest then EM has available.
Shaking up these relationships can only help us. Imagine if
Paramount buys either skiffy or Henson! now THEY know how to
pick up a SF show and run with it, turning it into a franshise of 5
series and a bunch of movies.

By the way, OT but does anyone remember Anabelle on
the "dream team" from another show? "Dinner & a movie" on
TBS perhaps? Oh ohh, credibility problem for another of skiffy's
psi-fi shows. :(



:ewink: