IN A SHOCKER, WMG FILES FOR AN IPO

Warner Music Group has taken the music industry by surprise, filing a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

The shares of common stock to be sold in this offering are proposed to be sold by certain of WMG’s stockholders, according to the 2/6 announcement from the music group. The number of shares of common stock to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined, according to the announcement.

Warner has tapped Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to jointly manage the IPO.

WMG was publicly traded on the NYSE until Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries bought the company for $3.3 billion in 2011, a half decade before the streaming revolution began to turn the music business around, skyrocketing Warner’s valuation, as all boats rose, figuratively speaking.

They're rising still, as this bullish move makes abundantly clear.

More details as we get them.