Corporate Music Biz Focuses On London

The UK’s only remaining major music company and its second-biggest ticket-seller are both likely to change hands by the end of August.

Along with the International Court Of Arbitration hearing between CTS Eventim and Live Nation, which opened July 25, the upcoming sales have caused a London courtroom and a few of its corporate music biz offices to become the focus of global attention.

The Times of London reported that 10 bids came in for EMI ahead of the first-round deadline, but – along with most of the global media – it also reckons the eventual owner will be one of the usual suspects.

The list includes Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, which has just bought Warner Music and would face regulatory pressure, Sony, Universal, KKR, and American investors including Ronald Perelman and Tom Gores.

U.S. banker Citigroup, which seized EMI when former owner Terra Firma defaulted on its loans, has made clear it has a preference for selling the company as one entity.

It may get its way, but competition laws will likely dictate if EMI has to be cut up soon after a deal is done.

German ticketing giant CTS Eventim was the early favourite to snap up the UK’s See Tickets, which was put on the block mid-February. See is largely owned by Dutch investment banker ING, which will want to see at least $165 million for it as it exits the European ticketing business.

Eventim’s already paid $183.5 million for the German division of See Tickets and recruited the UK company’s former non-executive chairman Nick Blackburn to oversee its own UK ops, but its bid may ultimately be thwarted because it hasn’t put enough money on the table.

Over the last month there have been industry stories suggesting it hasn’t put in the highest bid. One or two Eventim execs have privately expressed the view that there may be two or three bidders with better offers.

This time the usual suspects are expected to include Ambassador Theatre Group, backed by private equity firm Exponent, and a couple of U.S. private investment companies.

Fred Rosen, the former Ticketmaster chief known in the U.S. as “the godfather of ticketing,” is said to be involved with one of the private equity firms.

Eventim’s latest effort to get a foothold in the British market coincides with the fallout from its last try, which is coming under the scrutiny of the ICC.

The Germany company, mainland Europe’s biggest ticket firm, filed an arbitration request to the ICC in April 2010. It claimed Live Nation had breached an agreement to license Eventim’s platform when it merged with Ticketmaster Entertainment.

During the first week of the hearing, Eventim chief Klaus-Peter Schulenberg and LN chief exec Michael Rapino were both in the London court to put forward their points of view.

LN, which does appear to have broken the Eventim contract when hitching up with Ticketmaster, says it was forced to do so because the German company’s ticketing platform simply wasn’t up to scratch.

The London hearing is expected to last until Aug. 5, although it could be a couple of months before the ICC gives its ruling.