WMG rocks Roadrunner.(Warner Music Group Corp., Roadrunner Music Group )(Brief article)

Daily Variety, December, 2006 by Gallo, Phil

Reaching back to a relationship forged when he ran Universal Music's Island Def Jam, Lyor Cohen has brought the hard-rock label Roadrunner into the Warner Music Group fold. WMG is acquiring 73.5% of Roadrunner Music Group, known as the home of Nickelback and Slipknot, for $73.5 million. Roadrunner will become a freestanding label group within the Atlantic Records Group; Roadrunner managing director and founder Cees Wessels will continue to run the company.

Roadrunner's international affiliates will become freestanding units within Warner Music Intl. Acquisition will not involve any staff changes. Roadrunner Music Group was founded in 1980 in the Netherlands, where its headquarters will remain. Company has offices in New York, Canada, the U.K.,...