The thing that concerns me the most, after finding out who the buyer will be, is how long this thing will take to be wrapped up. Any sale of this type goes through the scrutiny of the various US regulatory agencies for anti-trust concerns, etc. This, alone, will be somewhat time-consuming but, the other wrinkle is that the EU (European Union) will probably have to give its blessing as well, since Vivendi is a European based company.
Depending on who the buyer is, these "hurdles" could be overcome very quickly but, if it's Viacom, expect it to take a while unless they would spin off Universal as an independent company. Reason: they own Paramount, adding Universal to the mix would probably not be approved.
I don't want to be like a wet blanket but, I don't think this will be wrapped up before the year's end. Although stranger things have happened!!
Keeping arms, legs, fingers, toes AND eyes crossed,
BST
