Bertelsmann Rules Out BMG Sale
BERLIN — Bertelsmann’s chief executive has ruled out selling the German media group’s recorded music division after a merger plan with EMI Group collapsed, a newspaper reported.
“There will be no sale of BMG,” Thomas Middelhoff was quoted as saying in the weekend edition of Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Middelhoff himself raised the possibility of selling off Bertelsmann Music Group last year, but changed his mind since then, citing Bertelsmann’s alliance with the online music exchange Napster and plans for an Internet platform, MusicNet, the newspaper said.
EMI and Bertelsmann called off talks last week on merging their music publishing arms, blaming hurdles raised by European Union regulators.
The combination would have been the world’s largest recorded music company, with a market share of 26%.
EMI owns the Virgin, Priority and Capitol record labels, and its stable of performers includes Garth Brooks, Spice Girls and Van Morrison. Regulators reportedly wanted EMI to sell Virgin as a condition for approving the merger.
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