[robynature]

Posible compra de Sony por EMI?

Un consorcio liderado por Sony ganó aprobación de la EU el jueves para comprar el negocio de EMI Music Publishing por $ 2,2 mil millones, a condición de que se venden los derechos de publicación en todo el mundo de artistas como Robbie Williams y Lenny Krativz.

Sony, con Blackstone Group, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co., Raine Group y David Geffen, ganó la licitación para el sello EMI Publishing año pasado en un acuerdo que pondrá encima de Sony en la edición mundial de la música.

Los reguladores europeos de la competencia aprobaron el acuerdo después de que el consorcio propuso vender los derechos de cuatro copias de seguridad de catálogos, incluyendo las obras musicales de 12 artistas contemporáneos.

"Sony y Mubadala han ofrecido a ceder valiosos y atractivos catálogos que contienen los títulos más vendidos, así como obras de autores de éxito y prometedor", dijo Joaquín Almunia, comisario europeo para asuntos de la competencia.

"Por tanto, estoy convencido de que la dinámica competitiva en el negocio de publicación de música en línea se mantendrán a fin de asegurar la elección del consumidor y la diversidad cultural."

Una investigación inicial de la Comisión llegó a la conclusión de que el acuerdo no era favorable a una competencia justa, pero Sony y sus socios acordaron desprenderse de más activos, con lo que la venta total de alrededor de 25 millones de euros, dependiendo de cuánto se eleva de las ventas de activos.

Los catálogos que se venden son Virgin UK, Virgin Europe, Virgin U.S. y y famosos de la música del Reino Unido e incluyen artistas como Gary Barlow, Ozzy Osbourne, Ben Harper, Placebo y The Kooks, así como Lenny Kravitz y Robbie Williams.

"La Comisión concluyó que, con sujeción a estas desinversiones, la operación no obstaculizará de forma significativa la competencia efectiva en el Espacio Económico Europeo o en una parte sustancial de ella", dijo la Comisión.

Los catálogos son propensos a ser subastados en los próximos meses, fuentes cercanas a las negociaciones, dijo.

Antes del acuerdo, Sony fue el jugador más grande en la cuarta edición de música, por detrás de Universal Music Group de Vivendi, EMI y Warner Music.

Los reguladores de competencia de la EU están llevando a cabo una investigación en una gran escala a una oferta de Universal para comprar EMI para el negocio de la música, citando preocupaciones sobre la participación de alto potencial de mercado del grupo combinado y de mayor poder de mercado.

Link;
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/19/uk-sony-emi-eu-idUKBRE83I0ZT20120419

[Pilar - RWS]

Creo que llegan tarde para eso... Robbie fichó por Universal (la misma discográfica que TT) a finales del año pasado.

Aunque imagino que de los discos ya editados con EMI se seguirán llevando un dinerito...

Gracias por la noticia.

[robynature]

Ahi encontre algo en la web de los Grammy, supongo que seran los derechos de las canciones(digo yo).

EMI Acquisition Approved
The European Union has approved Sony/ATV Music Publishing's $2.2 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will approve the transaction soon, according to a Billboard.biz report. As part of the approval, Sony must divest its publishing rights to its three Virgin Music Publishing catalogues in the UK, Europe and United States, as well as the catalogues of 12 of its artists, including Lenny Kravitz, Ozzy Osbourne and Robbie Williams. Additionally, in order to help finance its acquisition of EMI's publishing division, Sony is expected to cut more than 300 positions over the next two years, according to the report. (4/19)

http://www.grammy.com/blogs/levon-helm-dies

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Un consorcio liderado por Sony fue absuelto ayer por los reguladores estadounidenses para proceder a su compra $ 2.2 mil millones (£ 1.4bn) de la división de EMI Music Publishing.

Organismos de control europeos ya había aprobado el acuerdo, a condición de que Sony vende los derechos de publicación en todo el mundo de artistas como Lenny Kravitz y Robbie Williams. La Comisión Federal de Comercio dijo que el grupo no tendría que vender otros activos.

El acuerdo se convertirá Sony en el editor de la música más grande del mundo, ser dueño de los derechos de unos tres millones de canciones.

El grupo japonés se unió a los inversionistas, incluyendo firma de capital privado Blackstone, magnate de la música David Geffen y Abu Dhabi propiedad del fondo de inversión Mubadala para comprar el negocio editorial el año pasado después de que fuera puesto a la venta por parte de Citigroup.

http://www.scotsman.com/business/media- ... -1-2384798

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Universal Music's Concessions Grow in EMI Deal; Sale of Virgin U.K. Looks Likely

The Universal Music Group will take some extra time to prepare and submit its remedies package to the EU Commission, as part of its gambit to win regulatory approval to acquire EMI's recorded-music division. Depending on who you listen to, the package is due at midnight either on Tuesday or Wednesday but in any event, sources say that the Universal Music Group will submit its divestment proposals to the EU on Thursday.

When the week began, sources say the Universal Music Group was working on a remedies package that would propose selling Virgin Records and EMI Classics catalog on the continent of Europe. Initially, UMG was trying to exclude Virgin U.K. from that package, which along with the U.S. Virgin operation is the main source of repertoire for the label.

The remedies package that UMG intended to submit on Monday, but has now been shifted to Thursday, suggests that negotiations with the EU resulted in the regulatory agency asking for more than UMG initially was offering.

Sources say that the EU wants UMG to divest the Virgin and EMI Classics assets on a global basis, but UMG has instead offered to add the Virgin U.K. catalog, which includes Genesis and the Sex Pistols, as part of its remedies, according to a source, but not Virgin's U.S. catalog which includes Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul titles.

If the EU is willing to accept such a proposal, it likely also is pushing UMG to include current acts as well in the remedies package of assets to be divested, other sources point out. In fact, that's what Sony-led consortium had to do-add in current hit songwriters to its remedies package--in order to gain regulatory approval of EMI Music Publishing, It did and it won approval from the EU and subsequently won approval in the U.S. from the Federal Trade Commission,clearing the way for the deal to close on June 29.

Universal-EMI Merger: European Commision's Statement of Objections Leak (Report)

But one group of Wall Street analysts following Vivendi expects that Universal will have to sell more than what UMG is said to be currently proposing. On July 17, the Barclays European Media team issued a report that tried to compensate for UMG's regulatory risk by assuming UMG would have to sell 50% of EMI in order to win approval. The Barclays team further assumed that UMG would only get five time earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in that asset disposal, instead of the seven-times EBITDA multiple it paid, which would result in a lost of 200 million euros.

Meanwhile, although the UMG remedies package may be a day or two late in being submitted, the EU will likely begin market testing the UMG proposed asset divestment immediately, sources indicate. That could take up to a week, which would still give the EU plenty of time to make its decision of whether to approve the sale or block it and write it up in advance of the Sept. 6, the current deadline for the EU to make its decision on the deal, according to a source.

Some sources insist that the late UMG submission will automatically trigger a 15-day extension to be added onto the Sept. 6 deadline that the EU had to approve or block the deal, while others say whether the 15-day extension is added on is at the discretion of the EU. Still others suggest it would trigger a 21-day extension.

If the 15 or-21-day extension is added on, it will put UMG at risk of having to fork over $1.9 billion to pay Citigroup for EMI, without knowing whether it won approval of the deal from the EU. But regardless of when they pay, if UMG doesn't win regulatory approval, then this deal is a disaster well beyond UMG having to pay without knowing the decision.

In another issue that sources disagree on: If UMG doesn't win regulatory approval, which company would wind-up selling EMI? A source within the UMG camp insists UMG would wind up having to perform the sale duties, while sources at other majors insist that current owner Citigroup would be the seller. For its part, Citigroup refused to comment.

Things may be going smoother for UMG in the U.S. Some sources point out the fact that UMG is trying to keep ownership in the Virgin Records and EMI Classics in the U.S. indicates that it thinks it is faring better with the FTC.

In other related matters, after Impala co-president Patrick Zelnik, who heads up Naïve Records in France, wrote an op-ed in the Financial Times endorsing the merger, it triggered an outcry from indie groups in Europe as both the IMPALA board and the Merlin board separately voted to continue their opposition to the Universal/EMI merger.

As it turns out, Zelnik's endorsement of the Universal acquisition of EMI could work out to his benefit, should the deal be approved contingent on the sale of Virgin Records assets. Zelnick and Richard Branson, who founded Virgin and sold the record label to EMI for almost $1 billion back in1992, have had discussions about partnering to buy whatever Virgin assets are up for sale.

Branson's spokesman Nick Fox supplied this statement to Billboard. "Richard Branson and Virgin have been assessing how to get back into recorded music business for many years. The potential disposal of Virgin Records by Universal Music offers a wonderful opportunity to recreate a dynamic independent label in the market."

Branson's last effort to get back into music, starting the V2 label, was not successful, and eventually the label was sold separately in two pieces, with those assets currently owned by E1 Entertainment and UMG.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry ... 3952.story

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Aca se comenta las adquisicion de companias en Europa, segun entedi, supongo que las anteriores canciones de Rob, seguiran siendo de EMI?

A source close to the situation told Billboard.biz the contents of the divestment package submitted today by Universal Music Group for its proposed acquisition of EMI's recorded-music division to the European Commission. If accepted, it will put a bounty of properties on the market.

The contents of the package - all of which are only for Europe -- include: Parlophone minus the Beatles, Chrysalis minus Robbie Williams, Ensign, Mute, Sanctuary (UK only); EMI Classics, two jazz labels, Jazzland (Norway) and MPS (Germany). EMI European businesses including France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden; Universal Music's small Greek operation; Also, Universal promises not to bid to renew its European licenses for the Disney, Hollywood, Ministry of Sound and Restos du Coeur labels.

The company is also divesting European rights to the Pink Floyd and David Guetta catalogs, and EMI's share of the "Now That's What I Call Music" franchise.

Among the enormous number of catalogs on offer, Parlophone's roster on offer includes Coldplay, Gorillaz, Blur, Kylie Minogue; Chrysalis includes Blondie, Pat Benatar and Jethro Tull; Mute's catalog includes Depeche Mode and 30-plus years of releases.

Now, the Commission will turn around and market-test that package with UMG's competitors and other interested parties to get their take on whether the UMG proposals goes far enough to address concerns that UMG's market share will give it the power to be the industry's gatekeeper.

At presstime, it was unclear if the EU would begin market testing it today because sources said they hadn't yet heard from the Commission, but several hours still remain in the work day in Europe. If the EU waits until Monday to provide the package of proposals, competitors likely will be given five days to respond.

Link;
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry ... 2tgQt3B.99