Herald Sun: Vivendi buys MP3 [ 30aug01 ] FRENCH media giant Vivendi Universal has purchased US-based music website MP3.com in a deal valued at more than $US370 million ($698.77 million) in stocks and cash.

MP3.com allows users to download songs from the internet onto CDs and listen to them on any computer.
In a joint statement issued in Paris and New York, Vivendi said shareholders of MP3.com had overwhelmingly approved the deal at an extraordinary meeting.

Vivendi president Jean-Marie Messier said: "The acquisition of MP3.com is a very important step in our strategy to create a distribution platform, and at the same time to acquire a state-of-the-art technology."

He added that the purchase was essential for the company to realise its "objective to become the primary supplier of on-line music and related services".

MP3 is the main format used by Napster, Gnutella, and other song exchange sites.