Universal, Sony/ATV To Buy EMI for $4.1 Billion
November 11, 2011, 13 years ago
According to The Associated Press, EMI Group Ltd. is being sold in two parts for $4.1 billion.
Universal Music Group said Friday that it has agreed to buy the recording division of EMI for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion).
Sony/ATV has reached a deal to buy the second part, the publishing division in charge of songwriting copyrights, for $2.2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deal leaves Citigroup, EMI's owner, with liability for a pension plan worth about $600 million, a second person said.
Both people were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The deal is likely to face intense regulatory scrutiny because Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi SA, is already the world's largest music company with about 27 percent of the recorded music market. Adding EMI's approximately 9 percent will give it a clear edge over Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest.
