Terra Firma back in court over EMI deal: sources (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Guy Hands' private equity firm Terra Firma has asked British courts for documents it could use to challenge the process by which it lost music group EMI to Citigroup, two people familiar with the matter said.

EMI sought insolvency protection in February -- weeks before a debt covenant test it was expected to fail -- and the administration process, undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers, handed the business to sole lender Citigroup.

Terra Firma has been trying unsuccessfully to get access from both Citigroup and PWC to documents providing a valuation of EMI at the time of the administration and detailing the process that led to Citigroup taking control, the people familiar with the situation said.

The firm asked for access to those details at a private hearing in a London court on Tuesday, the people said.

It will be for the court to decide later this year whether PWC has to disclose those details to Terra Firma.

Valuation exercises during administrations can be critical in deciding whether any equity value remains in a business and can hand power to creditors in such proceedings.

The seizure of EMI wiped out Terra Firma's 1.7 billion pound ($2.7 billion) equity investment in the music group, home to artists including Katy Perry and Coldplay, and ended almost four years of troubled ownership for the private equity firm.

Terra Firma paid 4 billion pounds for EMI in 2007, one of the highest profile deals struck at the height of the buyouts boom. Citigroup provided 2.6 billion pounds of debt for the buyout.

The company's performance worsened and Terra Firma was forced to inject extra capital into the business.

However, one of the people said Terra Firma always met its interest payments and was looking for an explanation why Citigroup took control. Fresh legal action would complicate matters for Citigroup, which is examining a possible sale, recapitalization or initial public offering of EMI.

Since that review started in June, the business has attracted widespread interest from rivals including Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, Sony Music Entertainment and Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.

Citigroup is planning to indemnify bidders for EMI from any future damages claim from Guy Hands, the Financial Times reported late on Wednesday night, citing two people familiar with the auction.

Citigroup also still is facing legal proceedings from Terra Firma in U.S. courts.

Terra Firma lost the first round of a suit claiming that Citigroup and one of its leading bankers, David Wormsley, misled the firm when it bought EMI, but is appealing legal rulings made by the court.

Citigroup, PWC and Terra Firma declined to comment.

(Reporting by Simon Meads. Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Will Waterman)

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RIM near BlackBerry music service launch: sources (Reuters)

NEW YORK/TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is close to rolling out its own music streaming service that will work across its mobile devices, according to four people familiar with the plans.

The new service is likely part of an attempt by RIM to improve its BlackBerry Messenger service as it competes with the mobile media platform strengths of rival Apple Inc and Google Inc's Android.

RIM is in late-stage negotiations with major labels, including Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Sony Corp's Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Group. The new service is expected to be announced by Labor Day in the United States, September 5.

RIM has been enhancing its BlackBerry Messenger offering, popularly known as BBM, since announcing its "social platform" at last September's DevCon event where it unveiled the PlayBook tablet computer.

A RIM spokeswoman declined comment on the report but said BBM is one of the largest mobile social networks in the world.

RIM's BlackBerry smartphones have been hit by a sharply declining market share in the United States, even as the company has expanded sales in other parts of the world, partly because of BBM's popularity.

Analyst Matthew Thornton at Avian Securities said he doubted the music service would attract new users but might help the company keep its existing BlackBerry customers interested.

"I just don't think trying to replicate Apple is really going to change their situation near term," he said.

"For RIM it's going to be the new OS 7 product first and foremost ... and then it's about QNX and making that transition."

RIM has just launched an updated operating system on three new touchscreen devices intended to catch up with the technical specifications of Android and other rivals. The company plans to launch the first BlackBerrys using the QNX software, used on its PlayBook tablet, early next year.

The PlayBook comes loaded with the music store of 7digital, half-owned by HMV. 7digital's store includes some 13 million tracks, and purchases made via a PlayBook can be moved to other devices.

BlackBerry smartphones do not offer a RIM-enabled way to buy music, although audio and other files can be loaded onto the devices from a computer.

BlackBerry users can also download music apps from RIM's store, including Slacker, Rhapsody and Pandora.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company says some 45 million people use BBM, which allows BlackBerry users with data plans to pass text messages, pictures and other files to each other without incurring charges from their network carrier -- 70 percent of them use it daily.

Its latest version allows independent developers to incorporate BBM into their applications, meaning users can stay in a news, sports or games app while sharing it with their BBM contacts.

BBM is touted as a major attraction for younger BlackBerry users and customers in emerging markets because of its lower cost and immediacy. The service runs over RIM's proprietary network and tells a sender when a message has been received at the other end.

RIM's shares closed 3.8 percent lower on Thursday at $25.76 on Nasdaq and down 3 percent at C$25.49 in Toronto. The stock has lost more than half its value since the start of the year.

($1=$0.99 Canadian)

(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Robert MacMillan and Rob Wilson)

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Warner Music bids in with board: sources (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bids for a likely $3 billion buyout of Warner Music Group are in with the company's board for review over the next couple of days, according to two people familiar with the process.

Three parties are known to have put in bids for the world's third largest music company which is home to acts from current stars like Bruno Mars through to music legends like Led Zeppelin.

According to three people familiar with process, the bidders include billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries; a joint bid from Tom and Alec Gores' Platinum Equity/The Gores Group; and a pair of separate bids from Sony Corp's recorded music arm and publishing units in partnership with investor Ron Perelman and Guggenheim Partners respectively.

The final round of bidding, which is being handled by Goldman Sachs and AGM Partners, is expected to come in with offers just over $3 billion for the whole company.

The process is expected to be completed by Friday with an announcement of the winning bidder on that day, these people said.

The Warner Music sale process is taking place against a backdrop of ongoing declines in music sales as executives struggle to figure out new business models to guarantee the future of the industry.

Of the three bidders Sony's chance will be seen as the most complicated and therefore the least likely to succeed at this stage.

Warner's board, led by Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman, is keen to close the sale process without delay and fear that a sale to a rival music company could run into regulatory hurdles.

This is one reason why Universal Music Group, owned by Vivendi, is waiting in the wings to see if it can pick up assets from Warner Music's new owners, according to another person familiar with the company's thinking. Universal is the world's largest music publisher and owner of recording labels.

As the Warner Music sale process nears completion, music industry investors are already turning their attention to a possible bid for EMI Group. Analysts believe whoever wins Warner Music would be in a strong position to make a winning bid for EMI as they could save hundreds of millions of dollars by combining the companies.

EMI is owned by Citigroup, which is expected to put the music company up for sale in the near future after taking control from private equity firm Terra Firma in February.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Sources Say Brad Womack, Emily Maynard Are Finished

SnapPolls Comments (4)Add a comment

Tuesday 19 AprilBy Polar PatrolHighest Rank Vote downVote upReport this

I can't believe people still watch this crap and care about the "relationships."

Rose ceremony...LOL.

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Tuesday 19 AprilBy amy dianne Vote downVote upReport this

no big suprise. He was way too old for her and she was not truthful with her past..plus his anger issues.
Did she think her lies were'nt going to be exposed? How foolish.
She had no intention of marrying him and he was living in a dream world thinking it would work.

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Tuesday 19 AprilBy judy warren Vote downVote upReport this

here we go again hes going to try the batchler again enough already

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Tuesday 19 AprilBy rlnyny Vote downVote upReport this

OH NO! Surely you aren't serious!!! They were so in love! Well the third time is the charm...Man ABC, you are on a roll with great ideas! lol lol lol lol lol lol lol oh wait, too sad to be laughed at!

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