Vivendi, ex-boss Messier struggle for agreement as US officials eye deal

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2003

PARIS (AFP) — French media group Vivendi Universal and its former head, Jean-Marie Messier, were locked in last-ditch negotiations to find a deal on Messier's contested severance package as the clock ticked down on a deadline set by US stockmarket regulators.

"Attempts to find an overall agreement are being negotiated in the United States under the eye of the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission), but it's not certain that a solution will be found in time," a source close to the matter told AFP in Paris.

The two parties have until the end of Tuesday to reach agreement on a 19-million-euro (23-million-dollar) package Messier negotiated to leave the helm of Vivendi in July 2002.

The group's new chief executive, Jean-Rene Fourtou, has refused to make the...