|
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - EU regulators gave Universal Music Group clearance Tuesday to buy BMG Music Publishing for about $2.09 billion in a deal that will create the world's largest music publishing company.
The EU warned, however, that its "serious doubts" about the deal's effect on online music were soothed only by the companies' plan to sell the rights to some hits from the '80s and '90s by artists such as Justin Timberlake, Iron Maiden and R. Kelly.
Combining the world's No. 3 and No. 4 music publishing catalogs will give Universal the publishing rights to artists as diverse as Mariah Carey, U2, 50 Cent, Elton John and Leonard Bernstein. With a 22 percent market share, it will scrape ahead of current market leader EMI Group PLC.
|