English Bus/Financial Management merger

Vivendi Universal finished 2001 with 13.6 billion euros loss, the largest corporate loss in France’s history. Operating profits were positive, but Vivendi had to take a goodwill write-off of 15.2 billion euros reflecting the reduced value of many of its acquisitions. Investors were furious. In April 2002, a Bloomberg news report captured the strength of feeling against Messier’s strategy by quoting hapless Vivendi investor: “Messier hasn’t created anything since taking over…. He’s acted more as an investment banker than a merger.” In fact, Messier used to be a banker (at what is now Lazard LLC), and it’s fair to infer that his years of training on the other side of table influenced his deal-making decisions.