Warner, Viacom and Universal make bids for BMG Music

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

NEW YORK (AFP) — Warner Music Group Corp., Universal Music Group and Viacom Inc. have made bids for BMG Music Publishing, a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann AG, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The final round of an auction for BMG closed Thursday and the banks running the sale process, Citigroup Inc.

and JP Morgan Chase and Co., will pick the best offer within the next week, the newspaper said on its website. Bertelsmann announced in May it was selling its music unit. The group hopes to pocket more than 1.3 billion dollars from the sale, which would enable Bertelsmann to repay part of the bank loans taken out to finance its acquisition of a 25-percent stake in its own share capital from Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL)....