Universal To Buy Sanctuary
June 15, 2007, 17 years ago
The following report is courtesy of Rudy Ruitenberg and Aisha Phoenix from Bloomberg.com:
Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, agreed to buy Sanctuary Group Plc for 44.5 million pounds ($88 million) to add merchandising, artist management and artists including ROBERT PLANT, ELTON JOHN, THE KINKS.
Universal Music's Centenary Music Holdings Ltd. will pay 20 pence a share in cash for Sanctuary, the Vivendi unit said in a statement today. That's 13 percent more than yesterday's closing price for London-based Sanctuary.
Vivendi received European Union antitrust approval in May to buy Bertelsmann AG's BMG music-publishing division for 1.63 billion euros ($2.2 billion) after agreeing to sell some collections of songs, including rights to songs by Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. Sanctuary, whose shares slumped 97 percent last year, said last month that it received approaches that may lead to a takeover bid.
"The Sanctuary business will be a good strategic fit for us,'' Universal Music Chief Executive Officer Doug Morris said in the statement.
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