A U.S. federal jury found Monday that French entertainment group Vivendi must pay $954.6 million in damages to Liberty Media in a 2003 breach-of-contract lawsuit.
The Manhattan federal-court jury found that U.S. cable operator Liberty Media was entitled to 765 million euros in damages after it sued Vivendi, accusing it of fraud in a 2001 agreement in which Douglas County-based Liberty Media swapped its stock in the USA Network in exchange for a stake in Vivendi.
The four-week trial was overseen by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin. The jury voted against Vivendi on one breach-of- contract and one fraud claim, Liberty Media attorney Michael Calhoon said.
Vivendi in a statement Monday said it “strongly disagrees” with the verdict.
“Vivendi believes that there are many grounds for appeal and continues to believe strongly that it did nothing wrong and will continue to vigorously defend itself in any subsequent appellant proceedings,” Vivendi said.
“Liberty is very gratified by the jury verdict and that the jury has found that Vivendi should live up to its contract,” Calhoon said. Reuters
