the burgeoning television industry. During the 1970s, operating theatres overtook film production as Pathé's primary source of revenue. In the late 1980s, Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti tried to make a bid for Pathé, even taking over Cannon and renaming it Pathé Communications in anticipation of owning the storied studio. Parretti's shady past, however, raised enough eyebrows in the French government that the deal fell through. It turned out to be a fortunate decision, as Parretti later took over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and merged it with his Pathé Communications Group to create MGM-Pathé Communications in 1990, only to lose it in bankruptcy in late 1991. Jérôme Seydoux In 1990 Chargeurs, a French conglomerate led by Jérôme Seydoux, took control of the company. As a result of the deregulation of the French telecommunications market, in June 1999 Pathé merged with Vivendi, with the exchange ratio for the merger fixed at three Vivendi shares for every two Pathé shares. The Wall Street Journal estimated the value of the deal at US$2.59 billion. Following the completion of the merger, Vivendi retained Pathé's interests in British Sky Broadcasting and CanalSatellite, a French broadcasting corporation, but then sold all remaining assets to Jérôme Seydoux's family-owned corporation, Fornier SA, which changed its name to Pathé. Assets A list of current and former assets of Pathé. Current assets Pathé Cinémas (cinema chain) Pathé Films (movie production with units in France and the United Kingdom; distributor in France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, with a catalogue of over 800 films.) Pathé Live (distributor of event cinema.) Former assets The OL Groupe (19,98% capital / 24,33 voting rights) (football club) Comédie+ bought in 2003, sold in 2004 to the Canal+ Group (via MultiThématiques). Cuisine.tv created in 2001 with RF2K, sold in 2011 to the Canal+ Group (via MultiThématiques). Histoire created in 1997, owned 30%, sold in 2004 to the TF1 Group. Pathé Sport bought in 1998, sold in 2002 to Canal+ Group. TMC bought 80% in 2002, sold in 2004 to TF1 Group and AB Groupe. Voyage bought in 1997, sold in 2004 to Fox International Channels. Vis Pathé Cinemas sold in 2010 to UCI Italia. Fox Pathé Europa (joint venture with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and EuropaCorp), closed in 2020. Pathé News GP Archives (owned 42.5%, sold its shares in 2019 to Gaumont) International distribution France In its home country France, Pathé self-distributes its films through Pathé Films (formerly called