Seagram Co Ltd

Trumpeter-businessman Herb Alpert and partner Jerry Moss have gotten down to brass tacks with Vivendi Universal, collecting an additional $200 million from the French giant for a music publisher they sold three years ago. The payment, in cash and stock, was part of a contractual guarantee connected with the sale in 2000 of independent publisher Rondor Music. Alpert and Moss originally sold Rondor to Seagram Co. Shortly thereafter, Seagram was gobbled up by Vivendi.

Seagram Co. squeezed out an unexpected fiscal fourth-quarter profit as strong results from its television and music businesses offset lower liquor sales in Asia, sending its shares up 11%. The company, which produces entertainment through Universal Studios and makes Chivas Regal Scotch and other spirits, reported a profit before a gain of $3 million, or 1 cent a share. It was expected to report a loss of 1 cent a share, according to analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. Separately, News Corp.

One day after signing an agreement to buy PolyGram for $10.4 billion, Seagram Co. designated Doug Morris the future head of the combined music entity--the largest record company in the world. Morris, a former songwriter and highly regarded industry veteran, will take over as chairman and chief executive of the record giant, to be named Universal Music Group, following approval of the deal by government regulators--a process that could take five months or more.

In its first move since acquiring PolyGram for $10.6 billion, Seagram Co. is expected this morning to name Doug Morris as the future global chairman of the combined music entity--the largest record company in the world, sources said.

PolyGram President Alain Levy is alleging that Philips breached his contract when it agreed last month to sell its 75% interest in the music giant to Seagram Co., sources said Monday. According to those sources, Philips violated the terms of Levy's contract in various ways, not the least of which was by not informing him of plans to sell the company until the weekend before Seagram began its due diligence in early May.

Seagram Co. has sold more than half its remaining stake in Time Warner Inc. for about $965.6 million, as shares of the big media and entertainment company trade near an all-time high. Montreal-based Seagram, which sells liquor and produces films and music, said it sold the shares for $64.38 per share to investment firm Goldman, Sachs & Co. Seagram sold 15 million shares and retained 11.8 million Time Warner shares, representing a 2.3% stake.

On the eve of Universal Studios' formal spinoff of its television business to Barry Diller, speculation continues to mount that the entertainment mogul is destined for a much larger role at the studio. Many Hollywood executives are convinced that Diller eventually will run not just the television operations but the movie division and perhaps all of Seagram Co.'s entertainment assets. But sources close to Seagram's top management insist that nothing could be further from the truth.

Trading in the stock of Seagram Co., the spirits and entertainment giant, was halted for more than an hour amid rumors that the company is planning a further shake-up at its Universal Studios unit, or possibly planning to sell its Tropicana juice operation. Seagram shares jumped $2.63 to close at $40.13 on the New York Stock Exchange. Seagram executives declined to comment specifically on the rumors, but downplayed the frenzy.

In a continuing dismantling of the top management team at Universal Studios, co-marketing heads Buffy Shutt and Kathy Jones have been forced out of their posts at the movie division. Shutt and Jones, who are among the most highly regarded marketing executives in Hollywood, are only the latest to go in a wave of high-level terminations at the studio in the last week, underscoring the desperation of Seagram Co. chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. to extract better results from his entertainment empire.

Universal Pictures' production president, Marc Platt, is being bounced from his job after 18 months and repeated clashes with motion picture group chief Casey Silver over their creative agendas and operating styles. Platt's departure is viewed both inside and outside the studio as a consequence of increasing pressure on Universal Studios' top managers, including President Ron Meyer and Chairman Frank Biondi, by Seagram Co. Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.