Vivendi Agrees to Pay $686 Million to U.S.

French conglomerate Vivendi agreed to pay $686 million in U.S. taxes, resolving a dispute that had stopped the company from selling a stake in DuPont Co.

Vivendi, owner of Universal Music, had inherited the tax dispute with its $30-billion purchase of Seagram Co. in 2000. The Internal Revenue Service had challenged the way Seagram reported taxes after selling a stake in chemical maker DuPont in 1995 and demanded $1.5 billion from Vivendi after the takeover.