ITV

Tag: Edgar Bronfman

  • Warner Music Group’s losses lessen

    Warner Music Group’s losses lessen

    NEW YORK: Warner Music Group has announced financial results for the 10 month period ended 30 September 2004.

    Revenue for the period was $2.5 billion, up two per cent from the 10 months ended 30 September 2003. Operating income increased to $7 million from a loss of $197 million in the prior year period. Net loss improved to $136 million in 2004 from a net loss of $239 million in 2003.

    The company reported results for a 10 month transition period due to the change in 2004 of its fiscal year end from 30 November to 30 September. Meanwhile the company also announced that it is selling its sheet music and educational materials division to closely held Alfred Publishing so it can focus more on signing artists and songwriters. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Warner Music Group chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr. said, “Warner Music Group has continued to make significant progress on a number of fronts since our last earnings announcement. The financial results reflect the continued successful implementation of the restructuring plan and the total commitment of our colleagues in positioning Warner Music Group for success in a changing market. Now that the lion’s share of the restructuring has been completed, we can turn our entire focus to building and developing the company’s roster of recording artists and songwriters.”

    Worldwide recorded music revenue increased one percent versus the same 10 month period in the prior year to $2.06 billion. However when one takes favourable foreign exchange out of the equation, worldwide recorded music revenue decreased by approximately four per cent.

    The results were driven primarily by lower sales volume attributable to the timing and number of new releases as compared with the prior year. Excluding favorable foreign exchange, international recorded music revenue declined five per cent. US recorded music revenue declined by approximately three per cent to $977 million. The company’s major sellers this year included albums by Josh Groban, Green Day, Big & Rich, Twista, Jet and Michael Bublé.

  • Time Warner completes sale of music group

    Time Warner completes sale of music group

    MUMBAI: Time Warner has announced that it has completed the sale of Warner Music Group (WMG), including its recorded music operations and Warner/Chappell music publishing business. It was sold to an investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Edgar Bronfman, Jr.’s Music Capital Partners, Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners for approximately $2.6 billion in cash.

    The transaction establishes WMG as the world’s largest privately held independent music company.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Time Warner has retained the option to buy up to 15 per cent of the company at any time during the three years following the closing, and as much as 19.9 per cent of the Company under certain circumstances.

    WMG’s new chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. was quoted in a company release saying, “Warner Music Group is well positioned to be extremely successful as an independent company, both creatively and financially. Over the past several weeks, members of the investor group and I have been working very closely with WMG’s senior management, and we intend to move quickly to implement a strategy that will enable the Company not only to meet the challenges of the current environment, but also to take full advantage of future opportunities.

    ” I greatly appreciate the enthusiasm and help of the talented, dedicated people of WMG in making this transaction possible. I look forward to working closely with them and with the extraordinary lineup of artists who make up the WMG creative family.”

    Time Warner chairman and CEO Dick Parsons added, “We will miss the great people of Warner Music Group and certainly wish them only the best. Under Edgar’s leadership, the management team at Warner Music Group will be among the best in the business. This transaction has enabled us to reach our net debt target nearly a full year ahead of time, and we intend to deploy the proceeds of this sale toward high-growth, high-return opportunities both inside and outside our company.”

  • Time Warner and EMI merger talks point to a deal

    Time Warner and EMI merger talks point to a deal

    NEW YORK: Time Warner is going ahead with plans to merge its recorded music operations with EMI as the long-awaited consolidation of the global music business gathers speed.
     

    Executives at Time Warner still favour a deal with EMI, The Financial Times quoted people familiar with the negotiations as saying over the weekend. This is even after Sony Music and BMG, the music division of Bertelsmann, last week signed a non-binding letter of intent to combine their recorded music operations in a 50-50 joint venture.

    The Sony-BMG deal raises the prospect of the two mergers racing to win approval from competition authorities. Regulators, who in 2000 twice blocked a sale of EMI, are expected to look more favourably on a merger following the sharp decline in industry sales and the rise of Internet piracy.

    However, observers believe it is less likely that they would allow the global music business to consolidate from five to three large players. Eric Nicoli, EMI chairman, and Jeff Bewkes, chairman of Time Warner’s entertainment network division, had talks last week in a meeting which people familiar with the matter described as ‘constructive’. Sources said EMI had promised a senior role for Roger Ames, head of Warner Music, in the enlarged group if a deal is agreed.

    The talks come as EMI also considers a rival approach from a private consortium led by Edgar Bronfman, the former chief executive of Seagram, and Haim Saban, the billionaire media investor. The group, backed by private equity investors, is thought to be willing to pay more than US$2.2 billion for Warner Music’s operations including its Warner Chappell music publishing arm.

    EMI is proposing to pay Time Warner about US$1 billion in cash for Warner Music while giving it a 25 per cent stake in the enlarged company. The deal would allow Time Warner separately to sell Warner Chappell, valued at about US$1.2 billion.