P.M. BRIEFING : Video Company Heads Overseas

Live Entertainment Inc., making its first major move overseas, said today it has completed the acquisition of a majority interest in VCL Communications GmbH, the leading home video distributor in Germany, for an undisclosed price.

Live, a leading U.S. video distributor and retailer, has been expanding steadily over the past year despite last summer’s murder of its chairman, Jose Menendez. It had announced on Feb. 20 that it had signed a letter of intent to buy VCL.

Live, in which independent movie producer Carolco Pictures holds a 49% voting interest, said the acquisition of VCL, which has annual revenues of more than $25 million, marks Live’s debut into the overseas home video distribution market.

“This is a strategic and opportune deployment of our resources as we position ourselves in West Germany prior to the formation of the European Common Market in 1992,” said Devendra Mishra, president and chief executive officer, and Roger R. Smith, president of the company’s Live Enterprises unit.