According to the London Evening Standard, EMI/Terra Firma top man Guy Hands has been overheard discussing options for the future of the major with Samsonite CEO Marcello Bottoli, who Hands is reportedly hoping to persuade to take on the CEO job at the music firm (Hands wanting to take a back seat role once his restructuring is complete). According to the paper's City Spy column, Hands said he was still open to the idea of selling off EMI's recorded music division and just keeping the more profitable (of late) EMI Music Publishing – something one of Terra Firma's rival bidders when the major was up for sale last year were reportedly planning to do. He also reportedly revealed he is considering moving EMI's main US HQ from LA to New York. A Terra Firma spokesman refused to comment on any of that though.
Elsewhere, the New York Post reports that Hands has told his shareholders that he is nearly ready to begin the serious job cuts at EMI Music – up to 2000 are expected to go as a result of the current restructuring, but the overnight cull that has been expected all year has yet to materialise. Most seem to think the job cuts have taken longer than Hands originally intended – some say that's due to a combination of favourable-to-the-employee contracts and European employment laws making it harder to get rid of people than Terra Firma expected, while others say the delay is a budgetary one – ie despite the considerable savings the cull will deliver, the money needs to be in place to pay all those redundancy packages in the short term.