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BMG was told that its initial bid of between $1.5 billion for just Warner/Chappell was not competitive, so they reportedly upped their bid for the whole company to $2.8b.

LINE FORMS TO LEFT FOR WMG

BMG Rights Management and Private Investment Group Tamares Enter Bidding

And then there were a half dozen.

Two new bids have emerged for Warner Music Group in the auction launched by Goldman Sachs back in January.

Tamares, a private investment group with holdings ranging from property to digital media, has bid for the whole company, as has BMG Rights Management, a music publishing company co-owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bertelsmann, which has revised its bid for the whole company rather than just the pubbery.

Tamares is controlled by Finland-born investor Poju Zabludowicz, bringing to six the number of companies known to have submitted second-round bids.

BMG was told that its initial bid of between $1.5 billion for just Warner/Chappell was not competitive, so they reportedly upped their bid for the whole company to $2.8b. The pubbery is apparently trying to bring a rival music company into its bid to take parts of WMG’s recorded music business.

The second round of the auction, which will apparently conclude before Easter, also saw bids from Platinum Equity, Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries (already a 2% owner) and Sony Music, which sources insist is only interested in the recorded music assets.

The sixth group, comprising Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies and Doug Teitelbaum of hedge fund hedge fund Bay Harbour Management, also includes Napster co-founder, Facebook President and Spotify investor Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake in The Social Network.

Bidders have begun to receive presentations from Warner management, led by Edgar Bronfman, which may yet decide to sell only its publishing business.

One option should it do so remains a Warner bid for EMI, which earlier this year fell into the hands of Citigroup and is also on the block.

Shares in Warner Music closed up 7 cents at $5.51, giving it a market capitalization of $853m. The company reported net debt of $1.5bn at its latest earnings announcement.

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