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Vivendi buys Uproar games site

Bargain basement

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Vivendi Universal has bought Uproar, the New York-based Net games firm for $140m.

It is to merge the operation into its Flipside unit and says the deal will make it world's biggest Internet games operation, with 14 million American users.

Vivendi is paying $3 a share, a 50 per cent premium on Uproar's share price before the deal was announced (but a fraction of Uproar's IPO price, struck last March). This values Uproar at $60m - Vivendi is shovelling $80m of cash into the firm.

In a Reuters interview, Agnes Touraine, VP of Vivendi Universal Publishing, said the online games operation would move into profit before the end of the year. Estimates of combined turnover for Flipside and Uproar of $70m were conservative, she said. ®

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