UMG-EMI OK'D By EC?

UMG-EMI OK’D BY EU? EU regulators will allow Universal Music Group to go ahead with its $1.9 billion takeover of EMI only after Vivendi offered to sell global rights to EMI's most valuable record labels and catalogues, according to Reuters. Universal had proposed selling the bulk of Parlophone, one of EMI’s most prized assets, according to EMI CEO Roger Faxon. The package of concessions also reportedly included the divestment of EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, EMI units in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Norway, and Universal brands Sanctuary, Co-Op and Universal's Greek unit. That offer referred only to European rights, but Universal has since broadened the scope of the concessions after a market test by the Commission, which acts as EU competition regulator. "The scope of the concessions is likely to be global rather than limited to the EU," said the source. The EU has set a Sept. 27 deadline to make its decision official, but is expected to inform UMG before that.. (9/4a)