Conjecture in the London-based Daily Express about a possible move by Edgar Bronfman’s Warner Music to merge with EMI has investors snapping up EMI stock. The British music company’s stock price jumped 4% on Monday and at press time was up an additional 3% on Tuesday. In addition, 5% of EMI stock was traded on Monday.
According to published reports, the current rumor is that Bronfman will unload Warner Chappell and then set his sites on EMI. This theory is floating four years after EMI and Warner first started dancing and despite EMI’s Eric Nicoli making public statements that EMI was able to “flourish as a stand-alone company” (hitsdailydouble, 12/11).
Industry sources discount the report, though, insisting the stock run-up was caused by yesterday's favorable Q4 sales reports and the widely publicized Pew Internet and American Life Project poll which claimed illegal file-sharing was on the wane.
Of course, Sony and Bertelsmann have signed a binding agreement to merge their companies, and if there’s one thing to remember, it’s that analysts think regulators will only approve one music merger. It’s also important to remember that the idea of EMI and Warner merging has been mentioned at least once a month since time began.
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