Sony will Anteil an Sony/ATV angeblich abstoßen

Sony will Anteil an Sony/ATV angeblich abstoßen

Könnte sich bald mit Verkaufsgesprächen befassen: Martin Bandier

Bei Sony spielt man offenbar mit dem Gedanken, die Beteiligung an dem von Chairman & CEO Martin Bandier geleiteten Musikverlag Sony/ATV Music Publishing zu verkaufen. Nach Informationen des "Wall Street Journal", das sich dabei auf namentlich nicht genannte Quellen stützt, soll der japanische Konzern eine entsprechende Option gezogen haben. Diese Vertragsklausel würde es den beiden Eigentümern des Musikverlags erlauben, ihre Hälfte an Sony/ATV dem anderen Partner zum Kauf anzubieten.

Der Sony-Konzern führt das Musikverlagsgeschäft von Sony/ATV seit 1995 als Gemeinschaftsunternehmen, zunächst mit dem 2009 verstorbenen US-Superstar Michael Jackson und inzwischen mit dessen Nachlassverwaltern. 1995 hatte Sony die Hälfte des Unternehmens für rund 100 Millionen Dollar von Jackson erworben, der den ATV-Katalog mit unter anderem mehr als 200 Beatles-Titeln 1985 für knapp 48 Millionen Dollar gekauft hatte.

Das "Wall Street Journal" taxiert den Unternehmenswert von Sony/ATV inzwischen auf rund zwei Milliarden Dollar. Unklar bleibt dabei allerdings, ob es sich hierbei um die Bewertung für das Gemeinschaftsunternehmen von Sony und den Erben von Michael Jackson handelt, oder ob auch die Beteiligung an EMI Music Publishing mit einfließt. Schließlich hatte Sony die rund 2,2 Milliarden Dollar schwere Übernahme des EMI-Musikverlags 2011 mit einem Bieterkonsortium gestemmt - hier gibt es demnach eine andere Eignerstruktur, auch wenn die Kataloge inzwischen nach außen hin gemeinsam verwaltet werden. Sony/ATV gilt seit der Übernahme von EMI Music Publishing als weltgrößter Musikverlag.

Gerüchte um einen möglichen Eigentümerwechsel gab es in der Vergangenheit immer wieder, unter anderem 2004, 2005 und 2007 - also noch vor dem Tod von Michael Jackson.

Sony könnte sich mit den Einnahmen zusätzlichen finanziellen Spielraum verschaffen. Allerdings hatte der zuvor von einer Cyberattacke und Umstrukturierungen betroffene Konzern sein Ergebnis zuletzt wieder verbessern können.

Quelle: MusikWoche

..dazu auch: http://www.marketwatch.com/sto…it-sources-say-2015-10-07

Sony/ATV: Verkaufsverhandlungen
10. Oktober 2015

Der Songrechtskatalog, seit 1995 zur Hälfte im Besitz von Michael
Jackson und Sony Music, könnte bald komplett an eine der beiden Parteien
verkauft werden.

Wie eine Quelle vom Rolling Stone sagt, möchte Sony den Katalog entweder
“zu 100 Prozent besitzen oder abstossen”. Einzelheiten zu den aktuellen
“Verkaufs-/Kauf-Verhandlungen, sowie über die Besitzverhältnisse seit
1985, siehe hier:

Sony, Michael Jackson Estate in Talks for Transfer of Massive Catalog
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/s…9#ixzz3oCBxhSRO

Die Nachlassverwalter vom MJ Estate haben bisher keine Stellung
genommen.Zur Erinnerung: Als John Branca Anfang Jahrtausend von Michael
Jackson entlassen wurde, war angeblich unter anderem dessen Nähe zu Sony
ausschlaggebend. (MJ befand sich damals in einem Streit mit Sony und
ging davon aus, dass ihn der Musikkonzern finanziell in die Enge treiben
wolle, damit sie seinen Anteil am ATV Katalog übernehmen können).

Quelle: jackson.ch, rollingstone.com

Weiterlesen unter http://www.jackson.ch/sonyatv-verkaufsverhandlungen/
Copyright © jackson.ch

http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=298051

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
UNCERTAINTY SHAKES #1 PUBCO: Last Thursday (10/7), The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Sony Corp. had recently triggered a clause in its contract with Sony/ATV co-owner the Michael Jackson Estate, which allows one party to buy out the other. The initiation of the buy/sell process was confirmed by Sony Entertainment chief Michael Lynton in an email to Sony/ATV employees disseminated as a result of the WSJ report and intended to calm troubled waters.
The initiation of the buy/sell clause by the Sony Corp. leadership in Tokyo reportedly blindsided Lynton, Estate executor John Branca and Sony/ATV ruler Marty Bandier, an odd move indeed given that Sony and the Estate are 50/50 partners in the pubco. In a typical scenario, the partners would meet behind closed doors and come to a joint decision. It’s clear that Sony’s move has been a major disruption for everyone involved and will continue to be a distraction until the situation is resolved.
Sony/ATV’s estimated value is around $2 billion, and is expected to appreciate in the coming years. The company has been throwing off sizable profits; according to Sony regulatory filings, the pubco generated $560m in revenue last year with $580 projected for 2015. Sony owns 29% and the estate owns 10% of EMI Music Publishing, which was acquired by a coalition of investors in 2012.
Sony will buy out the Jackson Estate or vice versa, depending on which party is more highly motivated and willing to write the bigger check. Branca is expected to aggressively pursue the acquisition, and most believe he’ll no trouble building a war chest through investment banks, sovereign funds or a combination of the two. Either way, it’s a win-win for the Estate, which will wind up with the world’s most valuable publishing company or a huge check. If struggling Sony takes full ownership of Sony/ATV, it could conceivably put the pubco on the block and initiate an auction, which would likely draw plenty of suitors in pursuit of much-needed cash to pay down debt. But this is pure speculation.
In any case, those close to the action expect Bandier and his executive team to continue running the company, no matter which of the two parties winds up owning it.

.....

http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=298086
Thursday, October 15, 2015
BRANCA SETS THE BIBLE STRAIGHT
Mega-Attorney Disputes Story About Sony/ATV's Fate

The Bible has messed Up again.
In a story posted this morning about the possible sale of Sony/ATV
(triggered by Sony’s activation of a buy/sell provision), Ed Christman
described John Branca, mega-attorney and executor of the Michael Jackson
Estate, as a “contender” to succeed Marty Bandier as Chairman/CEO of
the world’s biggest publishing company.

To support this claim, the reporter quoted an unnamed source as stating,
“Branca really wants to take this over.” The source is then paraphrased
as saying that Branca’s relationship with Bandier had been close but
has become strained in recent months due to Bandier quashing the
estate’s voice in the Sony/ATV dealings.

Our source is somewhat more reliable, and we can name him: Branca
himself. “I did not talk to them,” he wrote in an email, “but Marty has
been my dear friend for 30 years, and I completely support him. The
story says we want to take the company over—true—but I do not want
Marty's job.”

Christman notes that “Reps for Sony Corp. of America, Sony/ATV and the
Jackson estate declined comment”—thus, the veracity of the story hangs
on one ill-informed anonymous source as well as “a former employee.”
Wonder who those are?

Artikel zum Thema:

http://www.latimes.com/enterta…music-20151017-story.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleyg…thriller-looms/

For Michael Jackson And Sony/ATV, A Billion-Dollar Thriller Looms

Thirty years ago, Marty Bandier was preparing to offer an eccentric Australian billionaire $50 million for ATV, the music publishing catalogue home to the Beatles and others. He probably would have succeeded in purchasing it–had it not been for Michael Jackson.

Bandier learned this for himself when he arrived in London and met the aforementioned mogul, Robert Holmes a Court, who informed him the catalogue was off the market. Bandier immediately upped his offer by $500,000, but was told another bidder had included something unique: a charity performance at Holmes a Court’s home in Perth. The well-connected Bandier pressed on, saying he could bring just about any big act to Australia.

“No, no, you don’t understand,” said Holmes a Court. “I’m selling this to Michael Jackson.”

Bandier, who told me this anecdote while I was reporting my book Michael Jackson, Inc., eventually linked up with his desired catalogue: today, he’s the chief of Sony /ATV, a joint venture between the electronics giant and Jackson’s estate. The entity, created in the mid-1990s as part of a deal that earned Jackson over $100 million, is now estimated to be worth about $2 billion–and earlier this month, Sony decided to initiate a sale process.

Bandier reportedly sent a memo to his employees earlier this month saying Sony had triggered a clause in its agreement with the Jackson estate that could lead to one side buying out the other, or to an outside buyer coming in and purchasing half or all of Sony/ATV sometime in the coming months.

When I contacted Sony/ATV last week and asked for a comment from Bandier regarding the state of the sale process, representatives referred me to a Sony; a spokesperson there declined to comment. Some have speculated that the Japanese conglomerate is looking to sell its stake for the same reason it sold its New York headquarters for $1.1 billion in 2013: to raise cash.

John Branca, the co-executor of Jackson’s estate, told me that it’s too early to know who all the bidders would be, but that the estate would be among them. Said Branca: “We intend to buy the company.”

That’s a remarkable statement, considering the state of Jackson’s finances in the years before he passed away. The singer had accumulated nearly half a billion dollars in debt, most of it high-interest and taken out against his half of Sony/ATV.

But since his death in 2009, Jackson has pulled in over $1 billion in pretax earnings, enough to pay off his personal debts and more. He earned $115 million over the past year alone, easily garnering him the top spot on our Halloween-spooky list of Top Earning Dead Celebrities.

“This major disaster gave him a chance to shine,” says Josh Rubenstein, National Chair of Trusts and Estates at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. “Jackson’s untimely and dramatic death, with all the drama surrounding it, also creates this allure.”
With that sort of earning power continuing in seeming perpetuity, Jackson’s estate could conceivably work out financing, perhaps with a partner, to acquire Sony’s stake of its joint venture. And if recent trends in the music business cause the price tag to drop a bit, the chances improve.

“There is certainly concern due to the low royalties music steaming companies are paying to music publishers and songwriters,” says Dale Kawashima, a former president of ATV who now runs SongwriterUnvierse. “There’s great value in buying a great company like Sony/ATV, but there’s some uncertainty in terms of what the royalties will be moving forward.”

Another issue that could ding the catalogue’s value is the potential reversion of Lennon-McCartney copyrights. In the U.S., songs signed to publishers after 1972 revert to the creator after 35 years; for songs signed before then, the term is 56 years, which would put some of the Beatles’ songs in play in the not-so-distant future.

That said, it’s hard to know what sort of deals might have already been signed behind closed doors to extend Sony/ATV’s relationship with McCartney and/or the estate of Lennon. Either way, the aforementioned scenario would be for the U.S. only, and the Beatles certainly enjoy tremendous popularity around the world.

Sony/ATV’s roster is also stacked with other superstars from Taylor Swift to Eminem, with new ones being added nearly every day (most recently a cappella sensation Pentatonix). Potential bidders will likely use the 2011 sale of Warner Music Group, which valued the company at about $3 billion–roughly two-thirds of that coming from its publishing division–as a comparable deal.

Whatever happens to Sony/ATV, one thing seems certain: it will underscore Jackson’s little-known business savvy. He made his share of financial blunders, to be sure. But in death, it appears he’s either in line to make a billion-dollar purchase or earn a billion-dollar windfall. Watching this unfold should be nothing short of a thriller.