According to Bloomberg, management at Warner Music have now received over ten bids to buy some or all of the music major. Warner’s current owners announced they would accept possible bids earlier this year, and bankers Goldman Sachs have been managing the process.
Bloomberg reports that both Sony and BMG have put in bids for Warner’s music publishing business Warner/Chappell, while Len Blavatnik, already a significant shareholder in Warner Music, has expressed an interested in multiple parts of the group, with some reports suggesting he is interested in buying the entire company outright.
It is thought Universal hasn’t bid as yet. Some reckon that is because of concerns any attempt to acquire a sizable chunk of Warner might result in anti-competition regulations kicking in and causing problems. Though others say Universal is interested in bidding for some bits of Warner – probably on the recordings side – but its offer has been delayed because of issues with the non-disclosure terms insisted on by Goldman Sachs.
The other bids are from private equity groups and similar. Although a couple are reportedly for Warner’s record labels, most bidders are going after Warner/Chappell. That is possibly because, as a stand alone acquisition for a non-music company, the publishing catalogue is probably a more secure asset. Though some may have been motivated to bid for the publishing set up because they know Warner chief Edgar Bronfman Jr prefers the option of selling that to generate funds with which to bid for EMI’s record labels later this year.
Sections: Music Business | Tags: Warner Music
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