''(formerly known as
Vivendi Universal )'' is a
French conglomerate active in
Media and communications with activities in
Music ,
Television and
Film ,
Publishing ,
Telecommunication s and the
Internet .
The company disclosed a corporate loss of €23.3 billion in its
2002 annual report, the worst loss to date for a French company. Amid intense media scrutiny, its flamboyant
Chairman and
CEO ,
Jean-Marie Messier (who had overseen the most dramatic phase of the company's diversification), was subsequently replaced by
Jean-René Fourtou .
Messier's rapid expansion of the firm, during which he overpaid hugely for media assets, saddling the company with debt far in excess of its market valuation and ultimately bringing it to the brink of collapse, has become a study in the triumph of personal ambition and greed over common sense.
On
December 14 ,
1853 , a water company named ''Compagnie Générale des Eaux'' (CGE) was created by an Imperial decree of
Napoleon III . In
1854 , CGE obtained a concession in order to supply water to the public in
Lyon , serving in this capacity for over a hundred years. In
1861 , it obtained a 50-year concession with the City of
Paris .
For a hundred years, Compagnie Générale des Eaux remained largely focussed on the water sector. However, following the appointment of and
Onyx Environnement . CGE then acquired the "Compagnie Générale de Chauffe", and later the Montenay group. The Energy Services division these companies became part of was later (1998) renamed "
Dalkia ".
In
1983 , CGE helped to found
Canal+ , the first Pay-TV channel in France, and in the
1990s , they began expanding into
Telecommunications and
Mass Media , especially after
Jean-Marie Messier succeeded Guy Dejouany on
June 27 ,
1996 . In 1996, CGE created
Cegetel to take advantage of the
1998 deregulation of the French telecommunications market, accelerating the move into the media sector which would culminate in the 2000 demerger into
Vivendi Universal and Vivendi Environnement (
Veolia ).
In 1998, Compagnie Générale des Eaux changed its name to ''Vivendi'', and sold off its property and construction divisions the following year. Vivendi went on to acquire stakes in or merge with
Maroc Telecom ,
Havas ,
Cendant Software ,
Anaya , and
NetHold , a large Continental European pay-TV operator. Beginning in 1998, Vivendi launched digital channels in
Italy ,
Spain ,
Poland ,
Scandinavia ,
Belgium , and the
Netherlands .
In June of
1999 , Vivendi
Merged with
Pathé , the exchange ratio for the merger fixed at three Vivendi shares for every two Pathé shares. ''
The Wall Street Journal '' estimated the value of the deal at US$2.59 billion. Following the completion of the merger, Vivendi retained Pathé's interests in
British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC and CanalSatellite, a French broadcasting corporation then sold all remaining assets to
Jérôme Seydoux 's family-owned holding company, ''Fornier SA'' who changed its name to Pathé.
In July 2000, Vivendi spun off its water and waste companies (along with interests in other public service sectors such as transport) into Vivendi Environnement (
IPO in Paris in July 2000 and in New York in October 2001), later (2003) renamed
Veolia Environnement .
Vivendi Universal was created in December of
2000 with the massive
Merger of the
Vivendi media empire with
Canal+ television networks and the
Canadian company
Seagram , the owner of
Universal Studios film company.
What had once been Vivendi's core business (water and waste services and other utilities) had previously been spun off as a separate company, now known as
Veolia Environnement .
Vivendi in its current form came into existence on
20 April 2006 following the sale of an 80% stake in the
Universal Entertainment unit to form
NBC Universal and the gradual recovery of the company from its disastrous over-expansion in the late 1990's and the early 2000's.
- In 2002 , VU began facing financial trouble. It began financial reshuffling, trying to shore up media holdings while selling off shares in its Spin-off companies.
- VU reduced its stake in Vivendi Environnement to 40% and sold its stake in Vinci Construction .
- The flamboyant company's Chairman and CEO , Jean-Marie Messier (who had overseen the most dramatic phase of Vivendi's diversification) resigned. He was replaced by Jean-Rene Fourtou . The company then began reorganizing to stave off Bankruptcy . The company announced its strategy to sell non-strategic assets. Its largest single shareholder was the family of Edgar Bronfman, Jr. , who was head of Seagram at the time of the merger.
- VU sold its stake in Vizzavi to Vodafone , with the exception of Vizzavi France. It also sold 20.4% of Vivendi Environnement's capital to a group of investors, and its stake in North American satellite operator EchoStar Communications Corporation.
- VU sold Canal+ Technologies to Thomson (formerly Thomson Multimédia); Tele+ to News Corporation and Telecom Italia . It also sold its 26.3% interest in Xfera .
- On March 6 , 2003 , Vivendi disclosed its annual report (term ended at December 31,2002), that is downloadable in Pdf format on its site. Some highlights include:
- --- Corporate loss of €23.3 billion: the worst loss for a French company.
- --- Net debt of €12.3 billion
- --- Vivendi will sell assets for 7 billons euros in 2003
- On December 1 , 2003, Vivendi closed a deal to sell MP3.com to CNET .
- Defying predictions that it would be unable to raise the cash needed, VU bought out one of the two minority shareholders in Cegetel , taking its holding to 60 percent, with Vodafone holding the remaining 40 percent. Management viewed the mobile communications firm as a core asset once the bulk of media assets had been sold off. Vodafone remains keen to add Cegetel to its portfolio and a move to gain control, possibly via a bid for the whole of VU, cannot be ruled out in the future.
- In 2005, VU became involved in a controversy over the future of the popular King's Quest game.
- On 16 December , it was announced that Canal Plus would merge with TPS , France's second largest Pay-TV provider. If the 5 billion euro ($5.9bn; £3.4bn) tie-up is approved, VU will own 85% of the combined entity.
- On April 20, 2006, Vivendi Universal announced that shareholders approved a name change. It dropped the "Universal" from its name and will now be known simply as "Vivendi". A new corporate logo was simultaneously unveiled.
