BMG Rights Management has already submitted its bid for EMI, according to the New York Post, which also adds that Warner Music is expected to make its bid this week.
As previously reported, according to Bloomberg current EMI owners Citigroup distributed information about the company’s finances to serious bidders for the music major earlier this month, asking for offers by the start of August.
Both BMG and Warner, the latter now backed by Access Industries, have long been expected to bid. It’s thought Sony, Universal, and equity outfits the Gores Group and MacAndrews & Forbes, will also make offers for some or all of the London-based music firm.
As previously reported, the overall boss of BMG co-owners Bertelsmann, Hartmut Ostrowski, recently told the Financial Times he expected his music division to bid for EMI, but said he anticipated that there would be quite a bit of competition, as there was for Warner Music earlier this year, and added that his company wouldn’t bid more than EMI is really worth just to win the race.
Inside EMI, everyone is waiting to see whether the company will be sold as a going concern, free to continue to proceed with CEO Roger Faxon’s strategy of more closely integrating the major’s recordings and publishing businesses, or whether they will be split up for sale, or merged with an existing music major. The latter option, of course, is likely to result in regulatory hurdles needing to be crossed.
Sections: Music Business | Tags: BMG, Citigroup, EMI, Warner Music
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