EMI for Sale

CITIGROUP VETS EMI BUYERS: Citigroup “is quietly soliciting interested parties and sitting down to discuss what part of EMI they’d want to bid on and how raidly they could close a deal in the hopes of not being left at the altar,” according to a report in the N.Y. Post this morning. "They're sorting the goats from the sheep, rather than entertaining all comers," said a source. The smart money is on WMG CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. trying to sell Warner/Chappell and using the money to pay down debt and make a bid for EMI Music. Other interested parties include the same suspects lined up for WMG: UMG, Sony, Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa, private equity firm Apollo and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries. (3/21a)