Sony Music released their Q1 earnings today, which revealed its acquisition of the Michael Jackson estate’s 21.5% share of EMI Music Publishing, leading to full ownership of the company.
Sony paid $287.5 million for the remaining share of EMI, Billboard reports.
The complete acquisition of EMI for a total of $2.3 billion was put into motion this May and led by private equity firm Mubadala, according to Variety. Sony has agreed to acquire EMI’s $1.4 billion in debt in the deal. Before it can be finalized, the acquisition has to be vetted by regulatory agencies. If the deal is approved, EMI will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corp.
This is a step in the right direction for Sony CEO and president Kenichiro Yoshida, who said this year that he would like the company to play a bigger part in the global music business.
Other points of note in Sony Music’s Q1 earnings include a 30% bump in streaming revenues, a 30% decrease in physical product sales, and an 8% improvement in total revenue, likely due to visual media and platform sales. Camila Cabello, Pink, Calvin Harris, and Dave Matthews Band were some of Sony’s top performers of the quarter.
