Music giant Sony announced an acquisition of the 60 percent stake of EMI that is owned by Abu Dhabi based wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company for a whopping $2.3 billion. The New York Times reports by collecting the stake of Mubadala, Sony will own all but 10 percent of the equity in the EMI catalog. The remainder not owned is a property of the Michael Jackson estate. The deal moves the worth of EMI to 4.75 billion and provides Sony with the largest catalog of music assets in the world.
“I believe this acquisition will be a particularly significant milestone for our long-term growth,” Kenichiro Yoshida, chief executive of the Sony Corporation, issued in a statement.
The deal will impact over three million songs including heavyweights in music history like artists of Motown and modern hits from Drake, Lady Gaga and more. Within the deal, Sony will also take on EMI’s $1.3 billion in debt. Nonetheless, the deal makes its mark as one of the biggest deals recently.
The moves by Sony are not limited to this acquisition. According to Engadget, the company will also invest in image sensors that are present in every smartphone, aiming to corral more PlayStation Plus customers and to continue to revamp their movie studio.
The news of Sony’s latest deal is believed to be a direct result of the power of streaming. The business that is currently powered by three giants in Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal is continuing to grow with competitors like Amazon Music and Youtube Music joining the fray offering specified services in order to grab their share of the marketplace. While more are joining in, Spotify has taken a controversial step forward in controlling the content they provide in supporting artists who are under investigation for questionable conduct and Tidal underfire for misleading numbers. With the jump in streaming services, the door may be open for more deals of this magnitude to come in the future.
