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| Warner Music bought by Blavatnik's Access Industries | Warner Music bought by Blavatnik's Access Industries |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Warner Music has been bought by an industrial group whose holdings range from oil and aluminium firms to the UK's Top Up TV. | Warner Music has been bought by an industrial group whose holdings range from oil and aluminium firms to the UK's Top Up TV. |
| Access Industries, run by Russian born billionaire Len Blavatnik, paid $3.3bn (£2bn) in cash for the world's third largest music firm. | |
| Warner, whose artists include Bruno Mars, has been struggling with declining sales and profits. | Warner, whose artists include Bruno Mars, has been struggling with declining sales and profits. |
| Access Industries already owned a small stake in the US firm. | Access Industries already owned a small stake in the US firm. |
| Mr Blavatnik said he was "excited" to be extending his involvement in the firm. | |
| Warner Music Group, whose entire music and publishing businesses have been sold, will become a private company with its shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. | Warner Music Group, whose entire music and publishing businesses have been sold, will become a private company with its shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. |
| Warner Music Group chairman Edgar Bronfman said Access Industries was "supportive of the company's vision, growth strategy and artists, while bringing a fresh entrepreneurial perspective and expertise in technology and media". | |
| "Most importantly, Access supports Warner Music's commitment to our recording artists and songwriters who are the foundation of our current and future success," he said. | |
| In addition to its heavy industrial interests, US-based Access Industries also owns the UK arm of film and TV distributor Icon. | |
| Mr Blavatnik, who has estimated worth of $7.5bn, is a director of Russian oil film TNK and aluminium giant Rusal. |