Vivendi reject UMG offer

Vivendi has reportedly rejected a $8.5 million offer for the Universal Music Group from Japanese telecoms group SoftBank. It's thought the telecoms giant was attracted to Universal because of the increasing importance of music services in the mobile market. 

AEG sale taking longer than expected

Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, has said that the much reported sale of the live entertainment major is well under way, but told Billboard that talks are taking longer than expected because of the number of parties interested in bidding for the firm. Last September the Anschutz Company announced its intent to sell its entertainment business, which owns and operates a network of venues worldwide, including London's O2 dome, as well as having extensive interests in sport (especially in the US) and owning  AEG Live with tours by Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi and Kenny Chesney already under way alongside festivals such as  Jazzfest, Coachella and StageCoach. 

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/touring/tim-leiweke-on-aeg-sale-we-re-getting-down-1008105082.story

AEG priced at $10 billion

The Anschutz Entertainment Group seemingly has a $10 billion price tag and it's thought the 25 page AEG information memorandum will go to dozens of interested parties this week, while those who sign non-disclosure agreements could have access to the live entertainment giant's books by the end of the month. Potential bidders tipped by Reuters include investment company Guggenheim Partners and private equity groups including Bain Capital, Colony Capital and Thomas H Lee Partners, the latter of which helped finance Edgar Bronfman Jr's acquisition of Warner Music in 2004. Liberty Media is also said to be interested - Liberty currently owns a quarter of AEG rival Live Nation.  LA-based billionaire surgeon and biotech entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, who has been investing in American sports teams, is also rumoured to be interested in leading a consortium to bid for AEG and Larry Ellison, co-founder of IT giant Oracle and America's third richest man, is also interested in buying AEG.

Meanwhile, back at the coal face, AEG boss Tim Leiweke has insisted that it's business as usual at the live firm despite the pending sale, adding that he expects the company's operations to continue unhindered once a transaction is completed.

EMI sale may be to another major label or publisher

As talk around of the impending sale of EMI rumbles on, anti-trust lawyers in Europe and the USA are speculating that the sale of EMI, which has a 10% share of the recorded music market and a 20% share of music publishing, may be less of a problem as regulators would no longer be so alarmed if another of the majors, whether Warners, Sony or Universal, brought the UK based conglomerate. Lawyers comment that the music market has changed so dramatically in the last few years, with new entrants such as Apple, Amazon and Live Nation, new forms of distribution including Pandora and Spotify and the capability of artistes such as Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney to manage their own record releases in the digital age. Citygroup took over EMI in February after the company's previous owner, Terra Firma Capital Partners, proved unable to repay a $5.4 billion loan and are now looking to sell.