The newly appointed chairman of Vivendi Universal, Jean-Rene Fourtou, confirmed the media giant was rocked by a "liquidity crisis" but vowed to restore confidence in a company whose shares lost three-fourths of their value this year.
Fourtou on Wednesday was named to replace Jean-Marie Messier, dashing Messier's dream of becoming a US-style media mogul and ending a leadership crisis at the world's second-biggest entertainment conglomerate.
"I now have a lot of work to solve the short-term crisis," Fourtou, of the pharmaceutical giant Aventis, told reporters after the hastily called board meeting.
Fourtou, 63, said his immediate task is to solve Vivendi's cash problems. But he must also find ways to overcome the sprawling conglomerate's massive debt, which some have speculated could ultimately force its break up.
"I have some ideas. I'm quite confident we are going to solve" the crisis, said Fourtou.
In a statement, the company said it would give top priority to "creating financial transparency and resolving short-term financing issues." A "financial and strategic diagnosis" will be made in less than three months by two specially appointed committees, the statement said.
Those committees will likely have to take a hard look at what went wrong with Messier's bold vision of a conglomerate capable of delivering content such as movies and films to consumers worldwide via the Internet, television, or even mobile phones.
During his high-profile tenure, Messier transformed Vivendi in six short years from a water utility named the General Water Co to a slick media giant -- but left it saddled with the biggest debt ever amassed by a French company.
"In the next two weeks, all possible measures will be taken to improve the situation," Fourtou said.
Fourtou said he would address Vivendi's employees on Thursday.
"The fate of this company, let us not hide it, depends on their work," he said. "Vivendi Universal has everything it needs to be optimistic about the future."
Messier accumulated massive debt as he worked to create a media and entertainment behemoth to rival the likes of AOL Time Warner Inc.
But investors grew nervous about his ability to mesh the company's diverse businesses together and reduce its borrowings.
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