Bertelsmann wants to sell Sony BMG stake to Sony

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

FRANKFURT (AFP) — German media group Bertelsmann is in talks with Japanese partner Sony on the sale of Bertelsmann's half in their jointly owned music company Sony BMG, a newspaper said Tuesday.

Each has owned half of the music publishing firm since 2004, and Sony has an option to buy should Bertelsmann decide to sell its stake, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper said, without identifying its source.

A Bertelsmann spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment on the report.

The newspaper explained that Bertelsmann boss Hartmut Ostrowski has decided to get out of the music business owing to falling sales caused by Internet downloads.

The German group began its withdrawal from the sector two years ago when it sold the rights to BMG Music...