“BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s competition regulator approved on Thursday a deal by Sony/ATV and other investors to buy part of the famous British music company EMI Group Ltd.
Sony/ATV, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and the Michael Jackson estate, and several investment funds including United Arab Emirates-based Mubadala Development Co. jointly offered $2.2 billion in November for EMI Music’s publishing businesses.
EMI’s publishing arm manages the rights to songs of popular artists such as Amy Winehouse, Regina Spektor and Rihanna.
Universal Music Group has a pending deal to buy the rest of EMI, which became famous for recording The Beatles and is also home to Coldplay and Katy Perry. EMI was put up for sale by Citigroup last summer, after the bank foreclosed on private-equity firm Terra Firma, which bought the music company in 2007.
To get approval for the deal from the European Commission, the Sony-led investor group promised to sell the publishing rights to several music catalogues as well as the works of 12 artists, including Ozzy Osbourne, Robbie Williams, and Ben Harper….”
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