[Montreal, CANADA] – Vivendi, Canal+ and The Seagram Company Ltd. have agreed to combine to create Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company for the wired and wireless world. Vivendi Universal will be positioned to accelerate growth of wired and wireless Internet access devices by providing proprietary content, e-services and e-commerce to customers.
The combined company will bring content from the world’s largest music company, second largest film library, major film production studio, second largest destination theme park company, and leader in reference, consumer and PC-based software game publishing with Vizzavi, Vivendi’s new multiple access portal, and the combined global distribution capabilities of Vivendi, Seagram and Canal+.
Vivendi Universal will be able to use its distribution capabilities in Europe and its expertise in creating wireless content and services, to forge new partnerships and exploit new opportunities as the growth of wireless services accelerates in North America and around the world.
Edgar Bronfman, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Seagram, said that the formation of Vivendi Universal is the beginning of a new era of opportunity and the culmination of Seagram’s transformation into a leading force in the global media and entertainment industry.
He said, “We have a clear vision for realizing the vast opportunity of leveraging our extraordinary distribution platforms to help meet global consumers’ desires to access compelling, value-added content any time, anywhere across all media formats and connected devices.”
The Bronfman family, which owns 24 percent Seagram shares outstanding, has signed a binding commitment to vote its shares in favor of the transaction. Edgar Bronfman, Jr., will be vice chairman with responsibility for music and all Internet activities of the group.
The proposed combination transaction involving Vivendi, Canal+ and Seagram will be submitted to each company’s stockholders for their consideration.