Warner Brothers Just As Iffy On The Record Industry As The Rest Of The World
Last month, Warner Brothers made a $4.1 billion bid for EMI, which was promptly rejected for being too low. And now, according to Reuters, Warners may be getting cold feet about the proposed deal altogether:
Thomas H. Lee Partners owns 37.2 percent of Warner Music, according to Reuters data. Warner and EMI, the world’s third-largest music company and home to Robbie Williams and Coldplay, have made several attempts to strike a deal for at least six years.
Last year Warner, the world’s fourth-largest music company and with artists including Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, offered 320p a share for EMI.
“Clearly that’s not anywhere near what you’d want to pay today,” [said Scott Sperling, co-president of Thomas H. Lee Partners]. EMI issued its second profit warning in as many months in February. “EMI has announced a series of disappointing results and we don’t see it turning around,” Sperling said…
The music industry has struggled in recent years as the growth in legal downloading has not made up for the slide in sales of physical merchandise such as CDs, but EMI has been hit particularly hard, with the poor performance of new releases such as Williams’s “Rudebox”. Music piracy is also an issue.
Come on, guys. Enough with the flirtatious teasing! Everyone knows the two of you will evntually hook up, consummating your love on a back-room stack of unsold Kylie Minogue CDs. Just get it over with already, so that the thousands of people who may lose their jobs will get some closure, and the numerous middling-achievement acts can find out if they’re getting dropped. We look forward to your unholy mega-conglomerate union!
EMI concerns grow at Warner Music [Reuters]
