companies invovled ....

Five years later MCA acquired Paramount's pre-1948 film library for US$50 million, subsequently proven to be a bargain as the new owners licenced films to US and overseas television stations.

MCA bought Universal's back lot for US$11 million in 1958, leasing the facility to Universal.

Four years later, amid increased competition and consolidation in the record industry, Decca sold Universal to MCA. The sale reflected MCA's interest in using Universal's production and distribution facilities, particularly for television production as an extension of its existing Revue Television Productions operation (responsible for video fodder such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver and Wagon Train.

In 1990 MCA was acquired US$1.6 billion by Japan's Matsushita group, a counterpart of GE and Westinghouse (and a competitor of Sony). Matsushita - centred on Matsushita Electric Industrial Company - was best known as the parent of Panasonic electronics.

Acquisition reflected Matsushita's large cash flow (particularly from exporting consumer appliances to North America), the availability of cheap loans as a consequence of the 1980s Japanese property bubble and received wisdom that hardware manufacturers such as Sony and Matsushita had to expand downstream into content production.

Performance by MCA was underwhelming and Matsushita appears to have faced difficulties coming to grips with the 'creatives' in Los Angeles. In 1995 it accordingly offloaded a controlling stake MCA to Seagram for US$5.7 billion.

As a way of gaining cash for Seagram's ambitious expansion plans (eg acquisition of Polygram for US$10.4 billion) and building alliances the Universal Television studios were spun off to Seagram's USA Networks subsidiary in 1998, being renamed Studios USA. Vivendi inherited Universal in 2000 when it acquired Seagram, reflecting that purchase by rebadging itself as Vivendi Universal. Two years later it bought back the USA Networks studio and cable television holdings (reinstating the Universal Television name).