MESSIER’S WINGS CLIPPED

Troubled Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Marie Messier barely survived an extraordinary, tense, eight-hour board meeting Wednesday.

Messier faced tough grilling from directors about the company's finances and his strategy. In the end, the board voted to create a committee, co-chaired by former Seagram Universal chief Edgar Bronfman Jr., to oversee Messier and the company’s business moves.

The board also voted against holding a new shareholder meeting after the April 24 meeting was tainted with potential fraud.

The new committee will keep a watch on Messier's decisions to make sure they're in line with the needs of the media company. The committee will also oversee the board of directors. It is "charged with the mission of putting forward new measures based on best international practices in this domain," a statement released by VU said.

The committee is expected to increase the communication between top management and the board and would be a signal to investors that the Vivendi board is monitoring Messier more closely. The mandate is to slash the corporation's mounting debt.

Bronfman, whose family has lost more than $2 billion as Vivendi's stock has dropped, and Marc Vienot, audit committee chairman for the board, are co-chairs on the new committee. The Bronfman family has grown concerned about the rapid evisceration of its fortune, which now is tied up in VU shares.

Bronfman's heightened role comes only six months after he cut his day-to-day ties to VU. Bronfman headed Universal when it was owned by his family's Seagram Co., which sold the studio to Vivendi 18 months ago.

Messier, in a statement, said he was looking forward "to the recommendations of our newly created governance committee."

After a confrontational shareholders meeting in Paris last month, the board met in New York Wednesday to consider whether to strip Messier of his title and power and appoint an interim manager.

VU’s shares have fallen 45% this year alone following a series of moves by Messier, including acquiring Universal.