Citigroup, which took control of EMI from British financier Guy Hands earlier this year, will seek a buyer for the entire music company rather than selling it off in pieces, The Post has learned.
EMI Chief Executive Roger Faxon has been arguing the case for months that a breakup would hurt the UK-based label while Citi has pondered the best way to recoup the cash it has tied up in EMI after loaning Hands billions for the buyout.
Now, sources said, Citi sees eye to eye with Faxon and agrees that selling the entire company is the best option.
The bank is preparing a financial book now that EMI, the world’s fourth-largest record company, has closed its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in March.
Citi’s decision could weigh on the ongoing auction of rival Warner Music Group, the third-largest record label.
Some participants in the Warner sale process have floated the notion of combining the companies’ recorded-music divisions or their publishing units.
Indeed, Warner itself has looked at the possibility of selling a part of the company, such as its Warner/Chappell publishing arm in order to join forces with EMI’s recorded-music division.
However, one source suggested that EMI was recently restructured in such a way that makes it difficult to unhook publishing from its recorded-music unit. EMI has worked to integrate those businesses and has only one slim corporate structure overseeing both.
Warner Music bosses are expected to meet today to go over bids and move toward the conclusion of its sale. Bids have come in between $2.7 billion and $3 billion.
Separately, Fund Mubadala, a $16.3 billion investment fund backed by the Abu Dhabi government, is said to have expressed an interest in EMI. Fund representatives couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Sources said Mubadala is circling the record company, which owns rights to The Beatles titles and counts Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum among its artists.