Dubai: Mubadala is now part-owner of the EMI library of music, which includes such popular artists as Rihanna and Norah Jones.
The Abu Dhabi-based company, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, has confirmed to Gulf News that it was part of a consortium led by Sony/ATV — itself a a joint venture between Sony Corp and the Michael Jackson estate — that announced on Friday it would pay $2.2 billion for EMI's publishing division.
"We can confirm that Mubadala is participating in an investment consortium that together with Sony will acquire EMI Music Publishing. We will not be disclosing any further details on the transaction," a spokesman said.
Sony/ATV is a 38 per cent partner in the consortium, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorised to speak publicly and request anonymity. Other parties include Jynwel Capital Ltd, the Blackstone Group and David Geffen.
Two-part sale
The acquisition of EMI Music Publishing is part of a two-part deal that splits EMI Group Ltd, the iconic British music company that is home to The Beatles, Coldplay and Katy Perry, into two. The two halves will sell for a total $4.1 billion.
Universal Music Group said on Friday that it will pay £1.2 billion (Dh6.97 billion) for the recording division, joining Universal artists including Lady Gaga and Eminem with EMI superstars such as David Guetta and Lady Antebellum.
The sale, if approved by regulators, would further increase Universal's dominance in recorded music and springboard Sony/ATV into the top spot as a music publisher, according to Impala, an association of European independent music companies that is against the deal.
The purchases would give Universal Music and Sony/ATV undue negotiating power over artists and distributors of music, even over the world's biggest music store, Apple iTunes, Impala said.
Both deals are expected to be carefully reviewed in Europe, the US, Japan and Australia. Even if regulators approve, they could force the sale of key assets or attach other terms. Helen Smith, Impala's executive chairwoman, noted that when Universal Music bought music publisher BMG in 2007, it had to sell some assets.
"When you have players which are dominant, even if they take over small players in market share, that can have a serious impact on competition," she said.
Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Universal Music parent company Vivendi, told analysts on a conference call that he was "very confident" the deal would be approved in as little as 10 months.
In the US, Universal is the top music producer with a 30 per cent market share compared with EMI's 9 per cent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With a combined share of 39 per cent, they would tower over Sony at 29 per cent and Warner Music at 19 per cent.
