By Tony Hallett, 5 March 2002 08:15
NEWS Vivendi Universal could be on the verge of issuing a record corporate goodwill write-down of between E14bn and E15bn. The media conglomerate would be following in the footsteps of US rival AOL Time Warner, which has announced a write-down of around $50bn this year. Such a move, attributed in today's WSJ Europe to "a person familiar with the situation", is in line with changing to US accounting principles. As a company, Vivendi has become even more exposed to the US market since buying the Universal music and film business, while chief executive Jean-Marie Messier's leadership style has long been considered more American than French. However, the large write-down has largely been priced into Vivendi Universal's share price which has already fallen about 36 per cent this year. Separately, utility arm Vivendi Environment has said it will write-down the value of its assets by E2.65bn.
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