Matsushita Closes Deal to Buy Entertainment Giant MCA Inc.
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Japan’s largest electrical firm closed its $6.6-billion purchase of entertainment colossus MCA Inc. on Saturday, completing the largest Japanese acquisition of a U.S. firm.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. acquired about 77.7 million shares of MCA stock, Matsushita said in a statement. Matsushita’s acquisitions amount to about 97% of outstanding MCA shares.
The buyout matches Matsushita’s electronics products with MCA’s movie and music empire.
MCA, which runs Universal Studios, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Matsushita.
Legal obstacles were removed Friday, when a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected a bid by MCA shareholders seeking to block the sale. The shareholders’ suit contends that MCA Chairman Lew Wasserman violated Securities and Exchange Commission rules by receiving tax-free stock transfers as part of the deal.
Wasserman alone is to receive a new preferred Matsushita stock that saves him $100 million in capital gains taxes and additional estate taxes.
U.S. District Judge Manuel Real did not dismiss the suit, but said there was insufficient evidence presented to block the transaction.
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