Warner Music sells for more than €906m

Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries is buying Warner Music Group Corp., the world’s third-largest recording company, for about €906m.

The companies said today that the purchase, for about €5.68 a share, will include the assumption of about €1.3bn in debt.

The deal comes amid a global decline in CD sales that continues to weigh down the industry.

US recorded music sales are half what they were a little over a decade ago.

Digital sales gains have started to flatten and CD sales continue to fall.

That means the 53-year-old Russian-born Blavatnik will have to cut further and hope that a new wave of innovation will carry digital music sales higher.

The former board member was part of the group that bought the company in 2004 and still owns about 2%.