Michael Simkins LLP advises BMG on the acquisition of Sanctuary

Media law specialists, Michael Simkins LLP, advised music rights management company BMG on the music rights aspects of BMG’s binding agreement to acquire Sanctuary Records from Universal Music.

The proposed sale, which is subject to regulatory approval by the European Commission (EC), forms part of a series of divestments mandated by the EC following Universal’s purchase of EMI Recorded Music.

The Sanctuary catalogue includes over 170,000 recordings from such legendary labels as Bronze, Creole, Immediate, Jet, Transatlantic, Trojan, Sugarhill, Pye and Solar, among them iconic bands Black Sabbath,Motörhead, Iron Maiden, The Kinks and Uriah Heep and metal legends Bruce Dickinson, Venom, Helloween, Girlschool, Magnum and Megadeth.

The Simkins team was led by Ed Baden-Powell, who commented: “It was a privilege to be involved in BMG’s acquisition of Sanctuary. The catalogue contains recordings from an exceptional line-up of artists from metal to punk, reggae to folk, and everything in between.”

Simkins worked closely with a number of BMG’s other advisers on the acquisition, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, the lead corporate legal adviser on the transaction.

London, 18 March 2013.

For further information, please contact Euan Lawson on 020 7874 5631.