Private equity firm Corvus Capital, run by British financier Andrew Regan, took itself out of the running for music giant EMI Group yesterday – leaving a group of former music executives to resurrect a planned $5 billion bid.
Corvus confirmed yesterday that it “actively considered making an offer for EMI” and had access to the necessary funding to make a bid.
But Corvus stated that the record label’s commitment to a deal with private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners means it now “has no intention of making an offer for EMI.”
The Post reported yesterday that Corvus was working with former EMI chief Jim Fifield and record exec Charles Koppelman on a 278 pence per share bid for EMI. The plan was for Corvus and Fifield to run EMI’s recorded music division and sell its publishing assets to Koppelman and private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner, sources said.
While Corvus may have backed out for now, Fifield and the others are preparing to go forward with the offer, sources said. The bid, which would top the 265 pence offer from Terra Firma, could be submitted by the end of this week or early next week.
Investors have driven EMI’s stock up to 273 pence on the hope that Warner Music or another suitor eventually emerges to gatecrash Terra Firma’s deal.
Warner chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. has yet to decide whether to bid on his own or buy EMI’s recorded music business from Terra Firma or another private equity firm, sources said.
While Corvus has gotten cold feet, sources said Fifield has received financing commitments from members of the Qatari royal family and Koppelman is eager to get his hands on EMI’s publishing assets.
Last year, Koppelman and GTCR lost out to Vivendi Universal in a bidding war for BMG’s music publishing business.
In its statement yesterday, Corvus left the door open for a possible bid should another offer emerge or the deal with Terra Firma is nixed.
Fifield left EMI in 1998 when the company’s operating profits were more than double what they are now.