London - Fortress Investment Group, the first publicly traded US hedge fund, is preparing to join bidders targeting Britain's EMI Group PLC, a British newspaper reported on Sunday.
Britain's Sunday Telegraph, citing unnamed sources, reported the hedge fund was examining a possible deal but had not made any final decision on mounting a bid.
US record company Warner Music Group Corp has confirmed it has made a tentative approach to EMI. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange Wednesday, New York-based Warner said any bid would likely be all cash.
Both companies made offers to take over the other last year, but discussions were abandoned because of fears that a combination would not be approved by European regulators.
Fortress Investment Group and EMI were not immediately available for comment on the report on Sunday.
In the past two months, EMI - which has Norah Jones, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and the Beatles' back catalogue on its books - has issued two profit warnings, blaming poor CD sales in North America for declining revenues from its recorded music unit.
Source: http://www.fin24.co.za
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