Vivendi Universal Company

Vivendi's Universal Music Group said Friday that it had agreed to buy Sanctuary Group for $88 million to add merchandising and management of artists including Elton John. Universal Music's Centenary Music Holdings Ltd. will pay about 39 cents a share in cash for Sanctuary. That's 13% more than Thursday's closing price for London-based Sanctuary. The deal broadens Universal Music's scope, adding merchandising, artist management and talent businesses, as the company looks for new revenue streams.

Vivendi Universal agreed to pay Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. $1.15 billion to gain full ownership of Universal Music Group and raise its stake in NBC Universal. Vivendi will buy Matsushita's 7.66% stake in a holding company that owns Universal Music and 20% of NBC Universal.

Media and telecom company Vivendi Universal reported a drop in fourth-quarter and full-year earnings because of one-time gains a year earlier, but it saw solid performances by its video games and music divisions. The French company said fourth-quarter profit fell to 1.25 billion euros ($1.48 billion) from 1.92 billion euros, and annual earnings dropped to 3.15 billion euros from 3.77 billion euros. Vivendi had 1.52 billion euros in gains from asset disposals a year earlier.

Vivendi agreed Wednesday to pay $2.1 billion to acquire BMG Music Publishing from German media company Bertelsmann in a deal that would give the French company the world's largest music publishing catalog and songs by artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams. Vivendi, as expected, beat out a group of other bidders that included Warner Music Group Corp., Viacom Inc. and EMI Group. Its Universal Music Group division was thought to have the nod from the beginning.

Media and telecom conglomerate Vivendi said Thursday that its second-quarter profit rose 53%, boosted by the settlement of tax litigation and strong performances from its video-game and pay-TV arms. The French company reported earnings of 1.16 billion euros ($1.48 billion) for the April-June period. The company said its bottom line was inflated by a one-time gain related to the June settlement of litigation against U.S.

It may own a mere 20% of NBC Universal, but Vivendi is calling the shots when it comes to whether the fabled movie studio and television company will end up in the hands of cable company Comcast Corp. or some other buyer. That's because every year in November, Vivendi can opt to sell its stake. There's also a little-known clause in the contract between Vivendi and General Electric Co., which owns 80% of NBC Universal, that gives the French media conglomerate veto power on any change in control.

Vivendi Universal, owner of the world's largest music company, said fourth-quarter sales dropped 26% as the company sold its U.S. media assets and revenue declined at the Canal Plus pay-TV unit. Sales fell to 5.33 billion euros ($6.94 billion) from 7.22 billion euros a year earlier, Paris-based Vivendi said, in line with analysts' estimates. Excluding the effect of divestments, sales rose 4.7%. Vivendi sold its U.S. media assets to General Electric Co.

Vivendi Universal posted a better-than-expected 2004 profit and said it would pay shareholders a dividend for the first time in three years. The French telecom and media conglomerate said it earned 1.86 billion euros ($2.48 billion) in the fourth quarter, contrasted with a loss of 642 million euros the year before. The profit was in large part the result of 1.52 billion euros in financial gains from asset disposals and an absence of charges from the year before.

Vivendi Universal, one of Europe's biggest media companies, said its first-quarter earnings tripled, helped by a turnaround in its music and video game business. Net income jumped to 502 million euros ($634 million) from 166 million euros a year earlier, topping most analysts' forecasts. The results underscore a dramatic turnaround at Paris-based Vivendi, which came close to collapse three years ago. Since then, Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou has sold off businesses to lower debt and lift earnings.

A U.S. appellate court Tuesday reversed a federal judge's ruling that would have required Island Def Jam Music Group and one of its former executives to pay $53 million to an independent record company, TVT Records. The decision by the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sets aside one of the largest awards in music history and is a surprising capstone to a case that pitted the world's largest music conglomerate against one of the nation's most successful independent record companies.