British music group EMI revealed on May 03, that it made a 4.2-billion-dollar (3.3-billion-euro) take-over approach to Warner Music which was snubbed by its US rival.
A combination of EMI and Warner would create the world's third-biggest music company and would count Coldplay, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Eminem and Scissor Sisters among its roster of artists.
In its third tilt at its US peer since the start of the decade, EMI said it tabled a cash-and-shares offer priced at 28.50 dollars per share for Warner Music on Monday - only to see its approach rebuffed the following day.
"EMI Group confirms that on 1 May 2006 it made an approach to Warner Music Group Corp," the group said in an official statement that was issued to the London Stock Exchange in response to recent press speculation.
However, EMI added that it remained interested in a deal at the right price. "The board of EMI continues to believe that an acquisition of Warner Music by EMI would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders," the record company said.
In a separate statement, Warner Music confirmed that its unanimous rejection of the preliminary approach. "The Warner Music Group Corp board of directors has carefully evaluated the proposal in conjunction with the company's outside legal and financial advisors," the US group said.
"The board has determined that the proposal is not in the best interests of our shareholders and has unanimously rejected it."
EMI and Warner Music are the world's third and fourth-largest record labels behind Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG, and a tie-up would have brought the Virgin, Atlantic and Capitol music labels under one roof. A proposed merger of the two companies was knocked back by European regulators at the start of the decade due to concerns over reduced competition in the record industry.
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