Los Angeles – Warner Music Group Corp. said Tuesday it had decided against making an offer to acquire rival recording company EMI Group PLC, which has a $4.9 billion private-equity takeover bid on the table.
New York-based Warner Music said, however, that it reserves the right to make an offer or to participate in a takeover bid for Britain-based EMI with an entity other than the private-equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners.
A spokeswoman for EMI said the company had no comment.
EMI’s board recommended in May that its shareholders accept Terra Firma’s takeover offer. Since then, Terra Firma has extended a deadline for EMI to accept the offer; now the deadline is Thursday.
Many EMI stockholders have been waiting to see if Warner would come forward with a more lucrative offer.
