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European Union Reaffirm Approval Sony BMG Music Venture

October 03, 2007 | Other
European regulators reaffirmed Wednesday their decision to clear the combination of the music businesses of Sony Corp. and the German media company Bertelsmann AG.

The European Commission cleared the deal for a second time after a court ripped up the original approval and told regulators to look at it again. The deal between the Japanese entertainment and technology company Sony and the Bertelsmann Music Group created the world's second-largest record label and brought artists like Shakira, George Michael, Avril Lavigne and Elvis Presley under one roof. The deal brought together labels such as Arista, Jive, Epic and Columbia.

The EU's executive arm said it had looked carefully at the deal and concluded that "the transaction would not create or strengthen a dominant or collectively dominant position in the music markets" of Europe.

The legality of the deal was called into question when the European Union's Court of First Instance criticized regulators for not doing enough to prove that the two companies would not damage competition in the music industry by reducing the number of major music companies from five to four.
Source:Google
jean michel wrote on October 04, 2007
it is interesting to note that Elvis is mentioned among other "living" entertainers.