EMI recording division sold for $1.2bn

EMI Group Ltd, home of The Beatles and Coldplay, has been sold in two parts for $4.1bn (€3bn)

Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group said today it has agreed to buy the recording division of EMI for $1.93bn (€1.4bn).

The second part, the publishing division in charge of songwriting copyrights, was sold to Sony/ATV, for $2.2bn (€1.6bn) according to a source.

The deal leaves Citigroup, EMI’s owner, with liability for a pension plan worth about $600m (€436.9m), a second source said.