Summer blockbuster Hulk is among Vivendi's assets

Media giant Vivendi Universal has given itself two weeks to sift through offers for its US entertainment empire.

Some of Hollywood's best-known assets, including Universal's film, TV and theme parks, are up for grabs in the multi-billion dollar auction.

As the deadline for bids expired on Monday, a source close to the sale said the French-American group would draw up a shortlist of bidders in early July.

The Universal business - home to latest blockbuster movies "The Hulk" and "Bruce Almighty" - is expected to raise in excess of $10bn (�5.6bn).

Big league

Vivendi said last week it had identified six potential buyers for the business, which will catapult its new owner into US media's big league.

The bidders are believed to include oil billionaire Marvin Davis, former owner Edgar Bronfman, General Electric, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Liberty Media and US media group Viacom.

But Viacom is thought to be sitting out the first round of bidding after being told it could not cherry-pick the best assets and must make an offer for the whole of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE).

Vivendi's former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier bought the Universal assets from the Bronfman family three years ago as part of a grand plan to build a giant to rival AOL Time Warner.

Dream shattered

The French mogul spent heavily on turning Vivendi from a water company into a huge media empire, but built up a vast debt pile in the process.

But his dream transforming Vivendi from a water company into a huge media empire was shattered last year as towering debts almost toppled the group, paving the way for his exit.

Having admitted it was impossible to run a Hollywood empire from France, Vivendi's new chief Jean Rene Fourtou has made selling VUE central to his drive to cut debts this year.

Vivendi hopes to announce the winning bidder by the end of July or early August but the sale could run into September, one source told Reuters news agency.

If Vivendi cannot get the price it wants, it has said it may opt to float 25 to 30% of the business.

But an outright sale is seen as the more likely option.

Even though the entire business will be sold at not much more than Messier paid for the cable channels alone.