Sony Completes Acquisition Of Bertelsmann’s 50% Sony BMG Stake October 01, 2008
By Ed Christman, N.Y.
Sony Corp. has completed its acquisition of Bertelsmann’s 50% stake in Sony BMG Music Entertainment, giving it 100% ownership and making the company a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Sony, which expects to rename the company Sony Music Entertainment Inc., paid $600 million cash for the company, and Bertelesmann also got to claim $600 million in cash being held by the joint venture.
Bertelsmann was already carrying $300 million of that on its balance sheet. Sony BMG finished the third quarter with 24.3% overall U.S. market share and a 24.1% album market share in the nine months ended Sept. 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
SMEI comprises such labels as Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records and Zomba.
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