Warner, Universal, Viacom bid for BMG

NEW YORK: Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Viacom have made bids for BMG Music Publishing, a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann, a leading American daily reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

The final round of an auction for BMG closed on Thursday and the banks running the sale process, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase will pick the best offer within the next week, the newspaper said on its website.

Bertelsmann announced in May it was selling its music unit. The group hopes to pocket more than $1.3bn from the sale, which would enable Bertelsmann to repay part of the bank loans taken out to finance its acquisition of a 25% stake in its own share capital from Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL).

Bertelsmann has agreed to buy the stake from GBL, the holding company of Belgian financier Albert Frere, for $5.74bn.