There is more (yes, more) speculation about the relationship between Bertelsmann and Sony regarding their joint venture major record company, SonyBMG, after comments made by the former's CFO in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Bertelsmann CFO Thomas Rabe told the newspaper that the German media conglomerate remains committed to the recorded music industry, but that it was in talks with Sony Corp regarding restructuring its 50% share of SonyBMG.
Rabe said: "We believe in the music business and see a positive trend, particularly in the digital segment. However, we will be sitting down with Sony to look at whether we can optimise the joint-venture financially".
Rabe did not elaborate on what he meant by "optimising" Bertelsmann's share. While the German group seem resistant to those previously reported proposals that they sell their half of SonyBMG in order to fund their recent buyout of group level minority shareholder GBL, many commentators still reckon that the German company may well sell some of its stake, most probably to Sony Corp, in a bid to reduce its other debt commitments. The fact that Rabe did not deny such a plan in his recent interview is seen by some as further proof that that is the topic of discussion between the two joint venture partners.
Rabe did comment on the sale of Bertelsmann's music publishing company, which is definitely being sold off to help finance the GBL buyback. Describing the sale as a "sacrifice", the CFO told the paper: "We are very reluctant to divest ourselves of BMG Publishing. However, as it contributes only 2% to Bertelsmann Group sales, it is the smallest sacrifice with a great effect."