European media company Bertelsmann said that is acquiring the stake of private equity firm KKR in their joint venture music rights management company BMG.
Best known for its television arm RTL and publisher Random House, the German group Bertelsmann expects the deal to close during the first half of 2013, but indicates no plan of disclosing any financial terms.
However, according to a source familiar with the deal, the acquisition price ranges from 700 to 800 million euros including debt. The German media firm will make payment for the sum out of its cash reserves, another source close to the deal revealed.
KKR doubled its cash investment in 350-400 million euros for its equity stake, the source said. In 2009, it made initial investment worth 50 million euros in BMG and then reached to 209 million later.
Rights management firm BMG is administering the rights to over 1 million songs that include works by artists such as Will.i.am, Bruno Mars and Johnny Cash.
Join the Conversation