Japanese entertainment giant Sony Corp yesterday unveiled a US$1.9 billion deal to buy industry titan EMI Music Publishing Ltd, which has the rights to songs by the likes of Queen and Pharrell Williams.
The deal adds a catalogue of more than 2 million songs — including some of the greatest hits of the 20th century — to Sony’s already huge repertoire.
The agreement is Sony’s first major deal under new CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, who said the music business has enjoyed a “resurgence” over the past few years due to streaming services provided by companies such as Spotify Technology SA and Apple Inc.
Photo: Reuters
With this purchase, Sony “is becoming one of the biggest music publishing companies, both in name and reality,” Yoshida told reporters.
“We are thrilled to bring EMI Music Publishing into the Sony family and maintain our No. 1 position in the music publishing industry,” Yoshida said in an earlier statement.
“I believe this acquisition will be a particularly significant milestone for our long-term growth,” added Yoshida, who last month took over at Sony.
Sony said it had signed a deal with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Investment Co PSJC to buy its 60 percent holding, giving the Japanese firm a stake of about 90 percent.
The agreement values EMI at US$4.75 billion, the Sony statement said, adding that “the closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.”
Yoshida yesterday also unveiled Sony’s latest strategic plan, which aims to bolster its content business — pursuing the direction his predecessor, Kazuo Hirai, had taken to revitalize one of Japan’s best-known firms.
“We are a technology firm, but the technology means not only electronics, but also entertainment and content creation” in today’s world, Yoshida said.
Sony would continue to build up its content services — as shown by yesterday’s deal — and also invest heavily in cutting-edge technologies, including image sensors, he said.
“This is part of Sony’s strategy under Yoshida to beef up its entertainment businesses,” Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda said in Tokyo.
“In the music business, copyrights are crucial. So the deal is meaningful and its price appears practical and reasonable,” Yasuda said, adding that success would depend on the quality of the content Sony creates in the future.
The electronics and entertainment behemoth last month reported record annual profit of US$4.5 billion, a roaring recovery supported by better sales across the board and helped by box office blockbusters, such as its Jumanji reboot.
Those figures were seen as a fitting send-off for Hirai, who stepped down as CEO after spending the past six years pulling the firm out of deep financial trouble.
Hirai led an aggressive restructuring drive at Sony, cutting thousands of jobs while selling business units and assets.
EMI is the second-largest music publishing company by revenue and either owns or administers about 2 million songs.
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