It is not like anybody didn't see this coming, but the sooner this happens, the better...
>>>Vivendi likely to spin off Universal
By Corie Brown and Richard Verrier | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 25, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- Vivendi Universal's Hollywood executives returned from their first face-to-face meetings with the new chairman in Paris with one clear impression: The French want to be out of the American entertainment business as badly as the Americans want them to leave.
Vivendi Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou did not specifically say he planned to sell the American companies, sources close to the discussions said. However, he left little doubt that Vivendi does not plan to be a long-term parent company to Universal Studios or Universal Music.
Exactly how and when Vivendi plans to spin off the studio and music company, and whether they would be a single company or two entities, is a subject of speculation on the Universal City studio lot. Sources close to the discussions in Paris said that the French executives did not discuss any specifics with the American executives.<<<
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-biz-viv072502.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
>>>Vivendi likely to spin off Universal
By Corie Brown and Richard Verrier | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 25, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- Vivendi Universal's Hollywood executives returned from their first face-to-face meetings with the new chairman in Paris with one clear impression: The French want to be out of the American entertainment business as badly as the Americans want them to leave.
Vivendi Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou did not specifically say he planned to sell the American companies, sources close to the discussions said. However, he left little doubt that Vivendi does not plan to be a long-term parent company to Universal Studios or Universal Music.
Exactly how and when Vivendi plans to spin off the studio and music company, and whether they would be a single company or two entities, is a subject of speculation on the Universal City studio lot. Sources close to the discussions in Paris said that the French executives did not discuss any specifics with the American executives.<<<
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-biz-viv072502.story?coll=orl-business-headlines