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Edgar Bronfman Jr. Sells
Universal
Tuesday June 20, 2000 @
06:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com
Staff
What started as a bootlegging booze empire, Seagrams Co. Ltd and
was later transformed into one of the largest media and record label
conglomerates in the world will be merged with Paris based Vivendi
SA and its entertainment division Canal Plus SA to form Vivendi
Universal. Prominent Canadian businessmen Edgar Bronfman Jr and the
board of Seagram Co. Ltd owners of Universal have said the merger
between the companies could be completed by the end of the year.
Assuming the merger is approved by regulators, the new company
will operate out of Paris. At this time there hasn't been any
information regarding the fate of Universal Music Canada's head
office based in Toronto. Although the combined income from the
companies could reach in excess of $65 billion Canadian.
Bronfman created the mega company through two key purchases. In
1995 he aquired a major Hollywood studio for $5.7 billion, then in
1998 he shook the music world with his purchase of PolyGram NV for
$10.4 billion. During his reign he saw several movies flop, but was
very successful with music releases.
 
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