Eight months after beating MP3.com in court, the world’s largest record company announced Sunday that it is acquiring the online music provider in a $372 million cash-and-stock deal.
Paris-based Vivendi Universal said the deal will advance its efforts to create an online digital music subscription service.
“MP3.com will be a great asset to Vivendi Universal in meeting our goal of becoming the leading online music service provider,” Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier said.
Vivendi said the deal, which it called a “friendly” transaction, will help it “strongly reinforce” its efforts in “the strategic areas of online music, subscriptions, branding, technology and all its content.”
Vivendi said San Diego-based MP3.com’s board approved the deal and it expects that more than 50 percent of the company’s shareholders will vote for it.
MP3.com shareholders will be paid either $5 for each share they own or receive American Depositary Receipts worth $5, or a combination of both, Vivendi said.
MP3.com will be a likely candidate for Vivendi Universal’s Duet, an online digital music subscription service it is developing jointly with Sony Corp., said a Vivendi spokeswoman.
