The entire world was convinced on Friday that Seagram Co Ltd of Montreal was to pay $7,000m for an 80% stake in MCA Inc from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, which paid $6,600m for the entertainment company in 1990, but when word went out on all the wires that Seagram chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr had told analysts during a morning conference that the deal as described was on, Seagram frantically started contacting anyone that would listen to say that no such announcement had been made. If the deal does go through as suggested, Matsushita is expected to retain the other 20%, estimating that that is all it needs to get privileged access to MCA content.Although known almost exclusively for its drinks business, Seagram has been interested in entertainment for some time, and has built up a stahe of 15% in Time Warner Inc.
