EMI Accepts $4.7 Billion Bid From Terra Firma

EMI Accepts $4.7 Billion Bid From Terra Firma

The EMI Group, the British music giant that has drawn heavy takeover interest in the last year, said Monday it had agreed to be bought by Terra Firma, the private equity firm led by the financier Guy Hands. EMI, whose recent talks with another buyout firm, Permira, ended without a deal, said it was recommending Terra Firma's offer to its shareholders. The bid values EMI at 2.4 billion pounds ($4.7 billion).

The song isn't necessarily over, however: EMI's shares rose Monday to 271 pence, above the 265 pence per share that Terra Firma has offered. That suggests investors hope another bidder will step up or that the takeover price will be raised.

"The EMI board received a number of proposals from several different parties," EMI's chairman, John Gildersleeve, said in a news release Monday. "Terra Firma's offer is the most attractive proposal received and delivers cash now, without regulatory uncertainty and with the minimum of operational risk to the company."

EMI and its New York-based rival, the Warner Music Group, lobbed takeover bids at each other last year, but talks about a possible merger between the two were halted after a court decision in Europe raised questions about whether the transaction could win antitrust approval. Warner Music made a fresh approach to EMI, whose roster of artists includes the Beatles and Coldplay, in Janaury.