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The New York Post is reporting that one of the most likely publishing interests to be offered will be Warner's Warner/Chappell, at a price of about $3 billion.

EMI, TIME WARNER OFFER CONCESSIONS TO EC

Dodger Dogs, Cracker Jacks, Ice Cold Brewskis Just Part Of The Deal
EMI and Time Warner have offered concessions to the European Commission in a bid to win the commission's approval for their joint venture.

According to sources inside the industry, the companies have proposed divesting record labels in Spain, France and Denmark, as well as some music publishing interests, in an effort to appease regulators.

The New York Post is reporting that one of the most likely publishing interests to be offered will be Warner's Warner/Chappell, at a price of about $3 billion. EMI's publishing arm, which controls the rights to more than a million songs, is the bigger moneymaker, according to the Post. Potential buyers include BMG, Sony and even Disney, which is said to be interested in getting into the pubbery biz.

EMI and Time Warner have also agreed to other concessions, including respecting prices set for music copyrights by national collecting societies, restructuring their distribution businesses, withdrawing from CD manufacturing and altering their arrangements for producing compilation albums. EMI has already pledged that for three years it will not provide preferential access to its music to Internet service providers affiliated with AOL-Time Warner.

Fearing the merged companies would dominate the music publishing market, the commission had made it clear that it would block the deal unless substantial concessions were made. Similar fears surround the pending AOL-Time Warner merger, and similar concessions are expected.

Reports have suggested that the commission was prepared to block both Warner-related mergers; however, commission officials have stressed that this was a normal procedural step in the negotiation process.

EMI and Time Warner officials were facing a deadline of midnight tonight, giving their concessions a "last-ditch" flavor—at least as far as the media was concerned. The deadline for concessions in the proposed AOL-TW deal is Sunday.

"The most important thing is that the companies still have time to address our concerns," said commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres. "In the EMI-Time Warner case, they have already responded."

A source close to the investigations suggested the commission was warming to the deals now that concessions were on the table.

Once the companies have presented their final offers, and Regis has locked the answer into the computer, the commission will consider whether or not the concessions are sufficient to let the deals go ahead, consulting antitrust officials from the 15 European Union states before making a final decision. As far as final decisions go, the Warner-EMI ruling is slated for Oct. 18. The AOL-TW ruling is slated for Oct. 24.

Speculators are speculating that the Warner-EMI deal was still touch and go.

"They [EMI] can clearly slice up music publishing and sound recording and sell a few catalogs and labels, but they can't do much to reduce the impact of tying up the music business with AOL," said Gareth Thomas of Commerzbank. Thomas stressed that it was difficult to see what concessions the companies could make to ease the commission's Internet concerns.

Independent record labels have also come out against the proposed deal, claiming it could kill them off altogether. Lobby group IMPALA, which boasts more than 600 members in the U.K., including Beggars Banquet, Mute and Tommy Boy, urged the EC to block the venture or impose concessions. The indies fear, with AOL's pending acquisition of TW, they could alsouse music as a loss-leader.

IMPALA Chairman Michel Lambot said: "We have a simple message: if concentration is allowed, the diverse and innovative independent music sector will become extinct."

Hey, maybe they'll take Billboard with them.

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