The EMI label who last month was cutting deals with Apple that saw the Beatles music available on iTunes is set to be owned by a US bank after their holding Company found themselves unable to pay out billions in debt.
The EMI label who last month was cutting deals with Apple that saw the Beatles music available on iTunes is set to be owned by a US bank after their holding Company found themselves unable to pay out billions in debt.
Private equity firm Terra Firma is set to cede control of EMI to Citigroup — the bank that loaned it billions to help buy the label which despite record iTunes demand for Beatles content has been unable to generate enough cash to bail them out of trouble.
The private equity firm is now reportedly telling its backers it may have to give up EMI, should the backers opt not to provide additional financing to help pay back Citigroup’s loans.
Terra Firma recently lost a court battle with Citigroup, where it had essentially alleged that the bank fraudulently goaded Terra into buying EMI.
Since Terra Firma’s $6.7 billion acquisition of EMI in 2007, the label under new leadership has undertaken a range of cost-cutting measures.
Should Citi eventually gain control of EMI, it’s likely to put the label up for sale with Steve Jobs tipped to be an interested buyer, however it is not known whether he wants to buy EMI as a private investment or for Apple.
n the last few hours the entire catalog of The Beatles – the most influential and popular band in music history – has gone live for digital download sale exclusively on the Apple’s iTunes platform.
