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It is in Vivendi's interest to make Diller happy. Not only is he a powerful figure in the U.S. entertainment industry, but he oversees a sizable chunk of assets that are closely tied to Universal Studios—and he has chafed under the restrictions of the deal with Seagram.
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MESSIER TO MEET WITH DILLER

Vivendi Chairman’s Sweet-Talkin’ Treatment Of USA Network Honcho Escalates
In a move to try and cement a key relationship for his future, Vivendi Chairman Jean-Marie Messier plans to meet this week with Barry Diller, head honcho of Seagram's 43%-owned USA Network, for the first time since the French entertainment and utility giant agreed to acquire Seagram last week.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Monday, Messier said USA is one of Seagram's most valuable assets and he hopes to convince Diller that Vivendi, which will inherit Seagram's stake in the network, offers USA opportunities that weren't available under Seagram's ownership.

Diller said Monday that he was "looking forward" to meeting Messier.

Speculation has revealed that Diller, perhaps with USA's other significant shareholder Liberty Media Group, would like to repurchase Seagram's stake, which is valued at about $7.2 billion. But Messier said Vivendi doesn't intend to sell its stake, and noted that there is no provision that would give USA rights to repurchase the stake because Seagram is being sold.

The Journal said that if Vivendi indeed intends to keep the USA stake, striking a good relationship now is crucial to both sides. Although Diller votes Seagram's shares in USA and thus effectively controls it, he will be effectively stuck with Vivendi as a new large shareholder. At the same time, it is in Vivendi's interest to make Diller happy. Not only is he a powerful figure in the U.S. entertainment industry, but he oversees a sizable chunk of assets that are closely tied to Universal Studios—and he has chafed under the restrictions of the deal with Seagram.

Relations between Diller and Seagram CEO edgar bronfman',390,400);">edgar bronfman',390,400);">Edgar Bronfman Jr. have cooled in the past couple of years because Bronfman has vetoed proposed expansion moves by Diller, such as a proposed alliance between USA and NBC.

Since announcing the Seagram acquisition, Messier has gone out of his way to publicly praise Diller. He has remained noncommittal, however, about whether he would offer Diller a Vivendi board seat.

In related news, Canal Plus minority shareholders may try to prevent Vivendi's acquisition of the pay TV company if they aren't offered better terms for their shares, the head of a French shareholder group told Bloomberg.

The Association for the Defense of Minority Shareholders will first ask a French financial-market regulator to force Vivendi to make a higher bid for the 51% of Canal Plus it doesn't already own, said Colette Neuville, president of the association. If unsuccessful, the association will try to stop the merger by getting enough shareholders to vote against it.

Also, in the first management re-jig since Vivendi's announced takeover, Alex Berger will leave his post as chairman of Canal Numedia, the Internet division of Canal Plus, to act as chief adviser to Canal Plus Chairman and CEO Pierre Lescure.

Berger will advise Lescure on the integration of Universal Studios into Canal Plus, which will be the studio's new parent company once the three-way merger is complete, and on strategy for adapting the vast pool of content the new group will control for the Web.

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