Universal has been told by the European Comission that it must sell the global rights to Parlophone if its £1.2 billion acquisition of EMI Music is to be approved by regulators, according to a report.
The Daily Mail says that the demand was made in a meeting on Friday afternoon and that Universal was told it had to sell nearly a quarter of EMI (worth around £300 million).
In a memo passed to Music Week in July, Roger Faxon outlined the inital divestment package offered by Universal to the European Commission ahead of regulators' deliberation over the EMI deal. The major label offered to sell Parlophone in the UK, not including The Beatles.
The EC is expected to make a formal announcement regarding its Universal/EMI decision by the end of the month.
Vivendi owned Universal, is understood to have some 22 buyers lined up to buy parts of EMI, The Daily Mail Reports. Of those is BMG Rights Management, which has expressed keen interest in the possibility of picking up divestments from the deal.
Source: Daily Mail
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