Bertelsmann

Is 50% of Sony BMG worth $1.2 billion?

Authored by Jay Baage on August 5, 2008 - 11:10am.

Bertelsmann Sells Stake in Sony BMG for $1.2 Billion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2008 - 9:44am.

*A clarification has been added to this story.

New York
- Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Bertelsmann's 50% stake in their four-year-old major record label joint venture Sony BMG, in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. "After a careful and thorough review, we made the strategic decision to sell our investment in this joint venture to Sony, a step that we believe will benefit the stakeholders of both our companies," said Bertelsmann chairman and CEO Hartmut Ostrowski.

Bertelsmann Sells "Columbia House" Direct Group Unit to Najafi

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 11, 2008 - 8:00am.

Gutersloh, Germany - German media conglomerate Bertelsmann announced on Friday that it has agreed to sell its direct-to-consumer business, Direct Group North America, to Phoenix, Ariz.-based Najafi Companies for an undisclosed sum.

Report: Bertelsmann Seeks $1.5B for Its Stake in Sony BMG

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 11, 2008 - 9:31am.

Los Angeles - German media conglomerate Bertelsmann is looking to sell its 50% stake in major record label joint venture Sony BMG back to Sony (NYSE: SNE) for $1.5 billion, an unnamed source told Financial Times Deutschland. Bertelsmann is looking to complete the sale within four to six weeks, and the talks are "well advanced," the source told FTD, according to a posting on the FTD article at PaidContent.

Sony BMG Revenue Down 27.8%; Digital Up 40%

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 20, 2008 - 9:06am.

Gutersloh, Germany - German media conglomerate Bertelsmann has reported its annual earnings for 2007, and said that revenues from its share of joint venture record label Sony BMG fell 27.8%, to $2.3 billion, as physical revenues fell 17% and digital revenues increased by 40%. Digital now accounts for 17% of total revenue at Sony BMG, up from 12% in 2006.

Random House to Sell DRM-free Audiobooks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 25, 2008 - 2:17pm.

New York - Publisher Random House, a unit of Germany's Bertelsmann, has decided to forego digital rights management on its audiobooks and will begin selling them in the unprotected MP3 format, The Wall Street Journal reported. Authors who do not wish to participate may still have their audiobooks sold wrapped in DRM. Random House recently partnered with digital music store eMusic to test sales of DRM-free audiobooks, and found that none of its titles were pirated on file-sharing networks.

Digital Royalty Processor RoyaltyShare Gets $4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2007 - 8:44am.

San Diego - RoyaltyShare, a provider of digital royalty and content management services to the entertainment industry, announced on Monday that it has added $4 million to its second round of venture capital financing, from Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Trident Capital.

Music Publishers Settle With Bertelsmann Over Napster Investment

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2007 - 6:21am.

Washington - The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), a trade association that represents over 700 U.S. music publishers, announced on Friday that it has settled its lawsuit against German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, over the company's investment in the Napster file-sharing service in 2000.

Arvato Mobile Adds Mobile Music Videos From EMI

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 15, 2007 - 4:01pm.

Hamburg, Germany - Arvato Mobile, a unit of Germany's Bertelsmann that distributes mobile entertainment content, said on Wednesday it has extended its agreement with major label EMI Music, and will now make full-track music video downloads available to European mobile customers. The deal will bring full-track music videos, videotones, wallpapers, ringtones and full-track downloads to Arvato-powered services in more than 75 countries.

Bertelsmann Invests in Mobile Social Networking Firm Blue Lion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 6, 2007 - 10:52am.

Cologne, Germany - Blue Lion, a German mobile social networking start-up, announced that it has closed a "multi-million euro" first round of financing from Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), the venture arm of the German media conglomerate.

Bertelsmann Pays Warner Music $110 Million to Settle Napster Lawsuit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 24, 2007 - 10:25am.

New York - Major record label Warner Music Group and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann jointly announced on Tuesday that they have settled litigation filed by Warner over Bertelsmann's 2001 investment in the original Napster file-sharing service.

EMI Settles With Bertelsmann Over Napster Investment

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 27, 2007 - 9:52am.

Los Angeles - Major record label EMI Group and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann announced on Monday that they have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by EMI over Bertelsmann's investment in the original Napster free file-sharing service.

Court Keeps Bertelsmann-Attorney Talks Secret in Napster Investor Suit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2007 - 11:45am.

San Francisco - A federal appeals court has ruled that German media conglomerate and one-time Napster investor Bertelsmann does not have to disclose its lawyers' communications regarding a $50 million loan it provided Napster in 2001, the Associated Press reported.

Bertelsmann Launches Digital Media Investments Fund

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2006 - 1:30pm.
Gutersloh, Germany - German media conglomerate Bertelsmann this week announced the launch of a new venture capital fund that will invest in digital media companies. Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) has initial funding of $63 million, which it will use to cover seed stage to early round investments in companies that intersect with Bertelsmann's books, magazines, music, television, direct marketing and media services businesses. "As digital media, the web and mobile access continue to converge on a global scale, we seek to partner with pioneering companies developing new technologies, new business models or new visions of the future," said BDMI president Richard Sarnoff.

Career Moves: October 19, 2006

Authored by dmw on October 19, 2006 - 9:31am.
Bertelsmann has named Richard Sarnoff as President of its new venture-capital fund, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), that will invest in early-stage companies focused primarily on digital media. Sarnoff, President of Random House’s Corporate Development Group, a division of Bertelsmann, will remain in the company’s New York headquarters, reporting to Bertelsmann CFO Thomas Rabe, and will retain his responsibilities within Random House.

Sony, Bertelsmann Appeal European Ruling Annulling Sony BMG Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 5, 2006 - 4:14pm.
Brussels - Japan's Sony and Germany's Bertelsmann have appealed an European court ruling that annulled the merger deal that combined its record label operations to form Sony BMG, Reuters reported. As a result, the European Commission must reexamine any antitrust concerns they found were raised by the deal, which created the world's second-largest record label. The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice will hear the appeal, which Reuters said will likely take over a year to complete.

Universal Music Acquires BMG Music Publishing; Napster Litigation Settled

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 6, 2006 - 5:46pm.
Paris - Media conglomerate Vivendi's Universal Music Group major record label announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Germany's Bertelsmann, to acquire BMG Music Publishing for $2.1 billion. Bertelsmann's music publishing arm includes a catalog of over one million copyrights, for compositions from artists ranging from Coldplay and Justin Timberlake to Puccini and Ravel.

Bertelsmann's Arvato Mobile Signs Music Deal with SPV

Authored by dmw on April 12, 2006 - 6:28am.
Hamburg, Germany - Arvato Mobile, a unit of Germany's Bertelsmann, said on Wednesday that it has partnered with independent label and mobile marketing firm SPV. The companies' joint offerings will include mobile song downloads, images and videos from bands including Motorhead, Sepultura and Judas Priest.

Warner, Bertelsmann's Arvato Mobile Launch P2P Movie Download Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2006 - 7:49am.
Burbank, Calif. - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced on Monday that it has partnered with German media conglomerate Bertelsmann's Arvato Mobile unit to launch a German-language movie and TV show download service. In2Movies will utilize a peer-to-peer network to initially deliver more than 80 offerings, including "Batman Begins," "The O.C.," "Friends" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," as well as programming from local distributors and third-party content providers. Launching in March in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, the service will use a centralized peer-to-peer network to ensure copyright protection and rights management, while a decentralized peer-to-peer network will deliver larger files like movies to users. Arvato Mobile has also partnered with major record labels Sony BMG and EMI to offer songs for download on its secure peer-to-peer network.

Bertelsmann's BMG Direct Acquires The Columbia House Company

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 10, 2005 - 9:49am.
New York -- German media conglomerate Bertelsmann announced on Tuesday that its BMG Direct unit, which sells CDs through mail order catalogs and online, has acquired Columbia House, the DVD and CD retail club that counts 8 million members. The Wall Street Journal reported that BMG Direct paid $400 million to The Blackstone Group for Columbia House, citing people familiar with the deal. BMG Direct is the largest direct to consumer retailer of recorded music in the U.S., while Columbia House is the largest specialized retailer of DVDs. "We are bringing together two of the [country's] most respected and knowledgeable direct marketing media companies. The combined BMG Direct and Columbia House entity will offer a broader selection of products to a larger customer base, while at the same time creating cost efficiencies," said Ewald Walgenbach, CEO of DirectGroup Bertelsmann.