Warners sold for $3.3 billion

In the first of what is expected to be another wave of consolidation in the recorded ,music and music publishing sectors, Warner Music Group announced on Friday 6th May that it has been acquired in a deal valued at $3.3 billion by Access Industries, a private equity firm headed by Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik. Blavatnik was already an equity investor in WMG, and previously served on the company's board. The deal will make the label a private company, and its stock will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. A group of private equity firms acquired the record label from former parent company Time Warner for $2.6 billion in 2004.