Fuller Eyeing A Bid For Parlophone Records

NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) – British media entrepreneur Simon Fuller is assembling a consortium of private equity investors in an attempt to acquire a number of EMI's record labels, including Parlophone, Sanctuary, Mute and other labels.

Fuller's efforts have attracted the backing of a number of potential private equity investors, including RIT Capital Partners, CJ Group, Claridge, Searchlight Capital Partners and CJ E&M, the entertainment division of Korean conglomerate CJ Group.

Parlophone is one of a number of EMI assets that are being sold off by Universal as a part of their agreement with anti-trust regulators following their £1.2bn acquisition of EMI earlier this year.

According to The Financial Times, Fuller's effort is one of nine preliminary proposals to acquire Parlophone, with other bidding entities including Warner, BMG and Sony Music. However, Fuller may be a more tempting counterparty for such a deal as Universal would likely be loath to sell Parlophone to a major competitor.

Ironically, the bidding may see competition in the Bronfman family. Private equity firm Claridge, which is in talks to back Fuller's bid, is helmed by Stephen Bronfman, a cousin to Edgar J. Bronfman. Edgar Bronfman Jr., until last year, was chairman at Warner, but stepped down when the label was acquired by Russian mogul Len Blavatnik, however, Bronfman remains on the board.

Fuller rose to prominence managing pop groups such as The Spice Girls and more recently, created the television phenomenon American Idol. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers