Bronfman agrees to settle lawsuit against Vivendi

Edgar Bronfman Jr., who sold Seagram Co. to Vivendi for $34 billion in 2000, agreed to settle his lawsuit against the French company over his pension.

Bronfman, now the chairman and chief executive of Warner Music Group Corp., sued Vivendi in April, saying the company credited him for only 20 years of service and ignored 15 for which he is entitled.

“We are pleased to report that we have reached a settlement,” his lawyer, Charles Michael, said Tuesday in a letter to U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York.

The letter doesn’t provide details of the settlement. Michael declined to comment. Vivendi’s lawyer, Joseph Moodhe, didn’t immediately return a call.

Bronfman, 52, took over the family’s business when he succeeded his father as Seagram’s CEO in 1994, transforming the liquor, wine and soft drink company into a media company. His actions included the 1998 purchase of PolyGram, now Universal Music, for $10.4 billion.

Bronfman sold Seagram to what was then Vivendi Universal in a $34-billion stock deal that left the Bronfman family as the French company’s largest shareholder. The decision backfired when Vivendi’s stock plunged in value as the firm piled up debt, reducing the Bronfman fortune.

Just before he left Vivendi, Bronfman led a group of buyout firms in the $2.6-billion purchase of Warner Music from New York- based Time Warner Inc., the world’s largest media company.