LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- DreamWorks is near a deal to sell its music unit to Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group for about $$@$!100 million, it was reported Friday.
DreamWorks Records, part of the larger entertainment concern formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, has not performed to expectations and the company reportedly wanted out of the business, which is beset by a global piracy problem.
The Wall Street Journal said the deal comes amid an unprecedented period of much-larger merger discussions in the music industry as it seeks to overcome the malaise.
Sony and Bertelsmann are in talks to merge their music operations, while Time Warner is in talks to sell a majority interest in its recorded-music business to EMI Group.
