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Stringer: Fate Of Sony BMG Up To Bertelsmann
June 26, 2006 at 6:21 AM (PT)
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SONY CEO SIR HOWARD STRINGER commented on the future of his company's joint venture with BERTELSMANN (SONY BMG), saying that the future of the entity is entirely in BERTELSMANN's court, and will be determined by how BERTELSMANN decides to repay its debt, according to REUTERS.
When asked if he would seek a controlling stake in the SONY BMG venture, STRINGER responded, "I don't have all the cards. At the moment, the decision by BERTELSMANN as to how they pay back that debt is up to them. And while we are in close negotiations and obviously there are some opportunities for us, in the end, they have to decide how they want to go forward."
As previously reported (NET NEWS 6/21), BERTELSMANN is selling its music publishing arm to finance a buy back from GROUPE BRUXELLES LAMBERT, which owned 25% of the company. STRINGER's comments today are somewhat curious, considering that last week, BERTELSMANN AG CEO GUNTER told REUTERS that there were no plans to restructure SONY BMG. "We want to stay in SONY BMG," he said.

