Warner Music Group has issued a statement confirming that it has made a bid to takeover EMI.
A statement issued from New York confirmed that in response to EMI's earlier announcement, Warner Music Group has approached EMI about a possible acquisition of the entire entity of EMI.The Warner-EMI romance has been going on for some years now, to the point where EMI must be feeling like the jilted bride.
With the recent announcement by EMI that it was merging its Capitol and Virgin Records divisions, this new courtship is indeed well timed.
Warner is proposing to fund a joint digital rights licensing platform but it is also talking about divesting in certain recorded music assets under the merger.
EMI has already dropped many of its acts since the Capitol / Virgin merger. Aussie bands Airbourne and The Vines are gone, as has US techno act Fischerspooner.
Today's announcement states "WMG believes that there is a compelling strategic, commercial and financial logic in a combination of the two companies and that such a combination should maximize benefits for the shareholders of both companies. WMG's approach to EMI, however, remains in the preliminary stages and there can be no certainty that the discussions will result in any specific transaction".
