Universal Said To Offer Sale Of EMI Classics, Parlophone

Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group offered European regulators to dispose of local assets that may fetch more than 250 million euros ($309 million) to soothe antitrust concerns over its takeover of EMI Group’s recorded- music business, said one person familiar with the matter. Universal offered to sell Parlophone Records, home to Coldplay and Gorillaz, in the U.K. while keeping the label’s Beatles songs, the person said, declining to be identified as the matter is not public. The company would also sell some labels including EMI Classics and Virgin Classics in Europe and EMI’s units in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Norway and Sweden to get approval for the 1.2 billion- pound ($1.9 billion) deal, the person said.