Sony Music and BMG team up to bid for Universal’s Parlophone January 7, 2013 SONY Music and BMG have joined forces to bid for Parlophone and other EMI assets being sold by Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. The pair are understood to have agreed to bid jointly to increase their chances of winning the highly sought-after assets over other suitors. If their bid is successful, they will then split the [...]
We’re entering an era of real-time business with startups setting the pace October 23, 2013 REAL-TIME reaction is the new currency in business and – for the most part – entrepreneurs and lean start-ups are making mincemeat out of big corporates. “Business has sped up in the past ten years,” says Rupert Lee-Browne, founder of broker Caxton FX, which has evolved from order-taking by fax to instant responsiveness in its [...]
Any Other Business – 25/07 July 25, 2013 Professional bean-counting company PwC has appointed its youngest partner of 2013 this week. Thirty-one-year-old technology whizz Umang Paw (pictured) has been hired to head up the firm’s information governance and e-disclosure business. But Paw tells The Capitalist that a City career didn’t always beckon – his parents wanted him to be a dentist and while [...]
Amazon ends free delivery for orders of less than £10 July 23, 2013 ONLINE shopping giant Amazon yesterday scrapped free delivery on many orders worth less than £10, in a sign that the retailer may finally be attempting to improve profitability. The change, which was announced with immediate effect, means thousands of small items will no longer be accessible for supersaver delivery, which takes up to five days [...]
Michael Gove’s illiteracy crusade will have huge benefits for our economy August 5, 2013 NEARLY half of all businesses are forced to provide literacy classes because many recruits can’t write a coherent memo. Even graduates from our best universities, according to anecdotal evidence from employers, have difficulty expressing themselves in comprehensible written sentences — hence so much dreadful bureaucratese. Meanwhile, a large proportion of universities are offering remedial courses [...]
Universal to get EMI go-ahead September 19, 2012 ■ Universal Music Group is set to win EU approval for its $1.9bn (£1.1bn) purchase of British record label EMI as early as this week, after agreeing to sell off some assets. The combined group would include a vast library of current top-selling and legendary names including Jay-Z, Katy Perry and Pink Floyd. Critics have [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Nine bidders for Parlophone records Warner Music and a joint venture led by industry impresario Simon Fuller are among nine groups to have registered interest in buying Parlophone from Universal Music Group. The label, home to Kylie Minogue and the Pet Shop Boys, is being sold to satisfy regulators’ concerns about Universal’s £1.2bn [...]
EU approves Universal’s £1.2bn bid for EMI September 21, 2012 The European Commission today endorsed Universal Music Group’s £1.2bn takeover of British record company EMI, and demanded that both companies sell a third of their assets in an attempt to cut their monopoly on the music market. The Commission said that EMI must dispose of the Chrysalis, Mute, Classics and Parlophone labels, while Universal [...]
Universal’s rivals are sounded out over EMI August 5, 2012 UNIVERSAL’S takeover of EMI could be affected by its rivals’ concerns after the European Commission (EC) wrote to other labels asking for their input on the music giant’s £1.2bn deal. The EC is keen to gauge concerns over the drawn-out deal, with any competition issues potentially meaning the regulator will apply clauses to the takeover [...]
Universal and Warner go head to head before the US Senate June 21, 2012 UNIVERSAL Music Group yesterday pitched the case for its £1.2bn takeover of EMI’s record label to a US Senate judiciary committee just hours after New Zealand authorities approved the bid. Universal chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge and EMI boss Roger Faxon led the charge, arguing that the deal would benefit the debt-ridden music firm. [...]