Sony/ATV Begins Auction Of 30,000-Plus Songs

Spinning Off Some Assets

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports, "SONY/ATV, the music publishing division of SONY MUSIC, has kicked off an auction to sell the rights to more than 30,000 songs from artists ranging from CULTURE CLUB to IGGY POP contained in the VIRGIN MUSIC and FAMOUS U.K. song catalogs, according to sources with direct knowledge of the process. These sources said non-disclosure agreements were sent out last week to more than 20 potential buyers, including WARNER MUSIC GROUP, PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC, ROUND HILL MUSIC, IMAGEM MUSIC, KOHLBERG KRAVIS & ROBERTS & CO LP, PLATINUM EQUITY PARTNERS, THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS and others."

The sale was necessitated by regulators in order for SONY/ATV to get the OK for its $2.2 billion acquisition of EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING.

In JUNE (NET NEWS 6/29), the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION OK'd the SONY-led group's purchase of EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING, without having to make any divestitures, here in the U.S. In its ruling, the FTC said that it looked at the transaction but "upon review found no reason for further action. Accordingly, the investigation has been closed," the FTC said in its letter to SONY.

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