News Ltd executives are believed to be considering the purchase of a stake in Facebook after music company EMI decided to bail out on the popular social networking site.

Terra Firm, the private equity firm that acquired major record label EMI for $4.7 billion, is close to selling a 15% equity stake in the company for about $513 million, the Times Online reports.

Terra Firma declined to name investors or comment for the report.

EMI’s new owners say they can increase profits at the company from $125 million in 2007 to $1.02 billion by 2012, through a plan that includes cost-cutting that will produce $277.6 million in annual savings, and higher margins of $701 million expected from Internet and mobile revenues, according to documents seen by the Times Online.

The documents also speculate that EMI may spend up to $617 million on independent label acquisitions and bolstering its catalog.

They also suggest that the recorded music business could at some point be sold to a media conglomerate like Google or News Corporation Terra Firm, the private equity firm that acquired major record label EMI for $4.7 billion, is close to selling a 15% equity stake in the company for about $513 million, the Times Online reports.