This could be a long wait.
According to the New York Times, EMI, one of the largest and most important record labels in existence, is having a great deal of trouble getting sold at a satisfactory bid.
EMI, which is home to recordings and copyrights by the Beatles, Radiohead, and Coldplay, just to name a few large bread earners for the company, is presently being sold at the hands of Citigroup, and they are currently not getting figures anywhere near the sale of the Warner Music Group last May, which was bought for $3.3 billion.
When Citigroup put the EMI Group on the market in June, hopes were high that the bidding market would take the company up to $4 billion. This was not the case unfortunately, with EMI’s publishing unit getting offers that tapped out between $1.75-$2 billion as a joint venture between Sony and BMG. Ultimately these offers are too low to sustain the business after purchase.
The market has changed for the worse since the spring, and it has been making potential buyers nervous about investing in a business as shaky as the music industry — the transition from physical sales to downloading is probably the biggest obstacle for just about all music labels. The unevenness of the EMI divisions is also a disadvantage to managing the company, with their record division being the smallest of the majors, with a 9% share of the market, while their publishing division being the largest, holding 20% of the market.
There’s been no word yet of whether or not Citigroup will take an offer, but those in charge of the sale have indicated that they may wait until the market, and bids, improve.
