Seagram May Buy Mca For $7 Billion

Seagram Co. is close to an agreement to purchase 80 percent of MCA Inc. from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. for just over $7 billion, Dow Jones News Service reported Thursday.

The news service said the companies were expected to announce the deal as early as today.

Seagram, the Canadian beverage giant controlled by the Bronfmans, one of the world’s richest families, also is expected to announce that it has received $9 billion from DuPont & Co. in exchange for Seagram’s 24.2 percent share of the chemical company, Dow Jones said.

Seagram is expected to use part of the proceeds to buy the controlling stake in MCA.