Vivendi’s Universal Music to acquire BMG Music Publishing

Vivendi’s Universal Music to acquire BMG Music Publishing

Vivendi’s Universal Music is already the world’s largest seller of recorded music. They are now aiming to become the world’s largest publisher of music as they have just announced their decision to acquire BMG Music Publishing for 1.63 billion euros.

German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG added that they would be paying Vivendi $60 million to settle litigation related to its ties to the file-sharing service Napster.

Vivendi managed to beat bids from as many as six other bidders for this company and they now get rights to songs from musicians like Coldplay, Christina Aguilera and Barry Manilow.

Some of the other bidders included big names like Warner Music Group and a team made up of Viacom Inc. and private equity firm Apollo.

The deal has already seen approvals from the board of both the companies. It would however might still be reviewed by competition authorities in both the United States and Europe.