United States owned Zomba, who released music
from such hip-hop acts as Mystikal, Keith
Murray, KRS-One as well as ‘N Sync, The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, was purchased by Bertelsmann
Music Group (BMG) for around $3 billion dollars. BMG Currently owns 25 percent
of Zomba publishing and 20 percent of the Zomba record label. Zomba exercised
an option to sell the remainder of the company today (June 11).
"While the exercise of this option will
undoubtedly be a surprise to many in the music industry, this is a natural culmination
of many years of close business ties and a complex series of agreements negotiated
12 years ago," Chairman and CEO Clive Calder said.
The move further consolidates the music industry,
as Zomba joins such BMG labels as Arista, J, Windham Hill and La Face.
"Over the years, I have admired Zomba’s
impressive results, which are perhaps the most spectacular in the industry.
We are very excited about its future prospects and it will definitely strengthen
our music business," Bertelsmann chief Thomas Middelhoff said in the statement.