Sony Now Owns EMI Music Publishing

• In May, Sony Corporation of America announced it had reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company to purchase the consortium’s approximately 60% equity interest in EMI Music Publishing. That $2.3 billion cash deal would give Sony about 90% of the equity in the EMI catalog with the rest held by the Michael Jackson estate. Yesterday, included as part of its earnings notice, Sony announced it recently acquired the remaining 25.1% stake in EMI Music Publishing from the Estate of Michael Jackson for $287.5 million, making EMI a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.

As Deadline reports, “Sony was already in the EMI business after a complex 2012 deal that gave it 30% of the music giant. It has since administered the catalogue via Sony/ATV. The library includes songs by artists like Queen, Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys as well as the Motown catalogue.” Variety rightly notes that Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman Martin Bandier built EMI into a powerhouse publisher and ran the company from 1991 until 2005.

The Deadline piece goes on to say, “The EMI deal will make Sony the world’s biggest music publisher and is the first major acquisition under President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, who took over from Kazuo Hirai. In announcing the deal in May, Yoshida said, “In the entertainment space, we are focusing on building a strong IP portfolio, and I believe this acquisition will be a particularly significant milestone for our long-term growth.”