MUMBAI: In a major setback for French entertainment group Vivendi Universal, a US jury ruled that it must pay $954.6 million in damages to Liberty Media Corp in a 2003 breach of contract lawsuit.

The dispute arose out of a commercial transaction between the parties in December 2001 when Vivendi agreed to buy the entertainment business of Barry Diller?s USA Networks for $10.3 billion.

As part of the transaction, Liberty Media received 37.6 million Vivendi shares for its stake in USA Networks and an European television production company.

However, in 2003 Liberty Media filed a lawsuit in a US court claiming that Vivendi misled it about a liquidity crisis at the company, artificially inflating the value of its shares, which it used to make the purchase.

Meanwhile, Vivendi said that it strongly disagrees with the decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

"The Group intends to pursue all available paths of action to overturn the verdict or reduce the damages award," the company said in a statement. "Vivendi believes that there are many grounds for appeal and continues to believe strongly that it did nothing wrong and will continue to vigorously defend itself in any subsequent appellant proceedings."