Universal Music Group (UMG) To Sell Parlophone Label Group (PLG) To Warner Music Group

TRANSACTION ENSURES HOME FOR PLG ARTISTS

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Feb 07, 2013, 11:30 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Parlophone Label Group (PLG) to Warner Music Group for £487 million. This sale follows the approval of UMG's acquisition of EMI Recorded Music by the European Commission in September 2012. The closing of the Parlophone transaction is expected to occur later this year, following employee consultations in certain jurisdictions and subject to various regulatory approvals. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

"Following this transaction, we will continue with our global reinvestment program that is rebuilding EMI and ensuring that the company is able to reach its full potential," stated Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of UMG. "And we're satisfied that our agreement with Warner Music will provide a home for PLG artists."

The Parlophone Label Group is comprised of the Parlophone and Chrysalis labels, as well as EMI recorded music operations in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Sweden. PLG's artists include Air, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Danger Mouse, David Guetta and Iron Maiden, among many others.

Following its successful purchase of the company last year, UMG acquired such iconic EMI labels and domestic operations as Virgin, Capitol, Blue Note, Christian Music Group, Capitol Nashville, Canada, Australia, Italy, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan and Latin America and South Africa, among others. Artists include such chart-topping superstars as The Beatles, Katy Perry, Emeli Sande, Robbie Williams, Swedish House Mafia, The Beach Boys, Lady Antebellum, Herbert Gronemeyer, Norah Jones, Tiziano Ferro, Hikaru Utada, Vasco Rossi, Helene Fischer, Smashing Pumpkins, 30 Seconds to Mars, Yumi Matsutoya, Keith Urban, Frank Sinatra, Empire of The Sun and Corinne Bailey Rae, among many others.

UMG and Vivendi were advised by Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch on financial matters, and SJ Berwin, Shearman & Sterling and Smiths Law on legal matters.

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the global music leader, with wholly owned operations in 60 territories. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's premier music publishing operations worldwide.

Universal Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol Records, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, I.R.S., Island Records, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, Manhattan, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Republic Records, Universal Music Latino, Verve Music Group and Virgin Records, as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes Global Digital Business, its new media and technologies division and Bravado, its merchandising company.

Universal Music Group is a fully owned subsidiary of Vivendi.

SOURCE Universal Music Group