Toshiba Exits Music by Selling EMI

Toshiba Corp. has announced that it will sell its entire stake in Japanese label Toshiba EMI Ltd. to Britain’s EMI Group Plc, saying that it would sell its stake for about 21 billion yen ($179 million). One of Japan’s major music and entertainment companies, Toshiba EMI is currently controlled 45 percent by Toshiba and the remaining 55 percent by the British music group. Toshiba accepted an offer from the EMI Group as “the music content business today is less relevant to other businesses within the Toshiba Group,” it said in a statement.

Toshiba EMI primarily handles domestic artists but also sells albums in the lucrative Japanese market of some of EMI’s top acts — most famously The Beatles. The market reacted unfavorably to the deal, however. Shares in Toshiba fell four yen or 0.52 percent to end the morning session at 768 yen as the benchmark Nikkei index rose 0.40 percent. Continue>>