Citigroup pressing ahead with EMI sale

AMERICAN banking giant Citigroup will reportedly press ahead with plans to auction off its EMI record label, despite a number of bidders dropping out of the race.

The bank took control of EMI – which lists Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue and KT Tunstall among its artists – in February and wrote off £2.2 billion of the label’s borrowings to take its debt pile down to £1.2bn.

Citigroup had bankrolled corporate financier Guy Hands’s £4.2bn acquisition of EMI in 2007 through his Terra Firma private equity firm, but seized the company after Hands could no longer service its debts.

A number of private equity firms have dropped out of the race to buy EMI, according to reports yesterday.

Other music groups have been linked to a possible takeover of the London-based business, including Universal, which is owned by France’s Vivendi, Sony and BMG.

On Friday, reports emerged that Len Blavatnik – the owner of Warner Music, another potential bidder – was also considering pulling his bid.

No-one from EMI was available to comment yesterday.