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Former EMI Music honcho Charles Koppelman is humming a familiar tune: he and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management are joining in the hunt for his old record label, The Post has learned.
Koppelman, who stepped down as executive chairman at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia last week with a $1.5 million severance package, ran EMI Records Group, North America, between 1990 and 1997.
When asked if he was on board with Apollo, Koppelman said, “The answer is yes. I am with them to try to buy EMI.”
Apollo snapped up “American Idol” owner CKX for $500 million in May and wants to grow in the entertainment space. Apollo didn’t return calls for comment.
The PE firm also looked at a potential acquisition of Warner Music, which is now in the hunt for EMI under its new owner, Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries.
Apollo and Koppelman aren’t the only new entrants in the bidding war over EMI, the UK label that is home to artists like The Beatles and Katy Perry.
Oaktree Capital, typically a buyer of distressed companies, has partnered with boutique music company Primary Wave to submit a first-round expression of interest.
Lender Citigroup, which took control of EMI in February after former owner Terra Firma ran into financial trouble, is scheduling meetings in the next few weeks with second-round bids to follow. The bank is entertaining bids for all or part of EMI, including the recorded-music business and the publishing arm.
Other bidders include Universal Music, which is interested in the recorded-music unit, and Sony, which is eyeing publishing. KKR’s BMG Rights is also in the hunt, as is Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity.
Sources said Citi has told bidders it will not bear the brunt of antitrust risk, meaning that any buyer will have to deal with the ramifications of regulatory law on both sides of the Atlantic. –With Josh Kosman