Reuters: Regulatory News: Sony group offers EU concessions for EMI unit buy

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Sony group offers EU concessions for EMI unit buy Mar 27th 2012, 10:32 BRUSSELS, March 27 | Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:32am EDT BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - A Sony-led group has offered concessions to EU regulators in a bid to gain approval for its proposed acquisition of record label EMI's music publishing business, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Sony, with Blackstone Group, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co., Raine Group and movie mogul David Geffen trumped rival BMG for EMI Publishing, whose catalogue includes songs such as "New York, New York" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". The European Commission said on its website it would now decide by April 19 whether to clear or block the deal. It did not provide details of the concessions, in line with its policy. The previous deadline was April 2. Sony is now the fourth player in music publishing, behind Vivendi's Universal Music Group, EMI and Warner Music. Citigroup is selling EMI, having taken control of the group when its previous owner, private equity group Terra Firma, defaulted on borrowings from the investment bank. Sony's consortium is expected to cite existing strong competition in the music publishing business and also collecting societies' pricing power as part of its arguments to EU regulators. It will also cite the growing presence of online music distributors such as Apple, Amazon and Spotify. Impala, a trade organisation representing Europe's independent music companies, has called on the commission to block the deal, saying it would give Sony excessive power and would result in an overly concentrated market. Last Friday, the EU watchdog opened an in-depth investigation into Universal's bid to buy EMI's recorded music business, citing concerns about the combined group's potential high market share and increased market power. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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