Warner Music Group is eyeing a stake in Saudi Arabia’s Rotana Group-owned Rotana Music – claimed to be the largest record label in the Middle East.
That’s according to this report in the Wall Street Journal, which, citing ‘people familiar with the deal’ states that the major is currently ‘in talks to acquire a large minority stake in the company’.
Again, citing people close to the deal, the WSJ reports that the stake is ‘worth at least tens of millions of dollars’.
Established by the Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal in 1987, the Rotana Group is a media empire, which in addition to Rotana Records owns a film production company (Rotana Studios), a magazine (Rotana Magazine), a television channel (Rotana TV), seven music radio channels (Rotana Radio) and a hotel management company (Rotana Hotels).
The news of Warner Music Group’s interest in the region follows a few significant global music business-related developments in the country over the last few months.
Firstly, France-born streaming company Deezer’s investment in August 2018, raised from Rotana Group and The Kingdom Holding Company, a Saudi conglomerate holding company based in Riyadh.
Then came the launch of Deezer in the Middle East and North Africa in October with an exclusive Rotana content deal, with Spotify then following suit with its own launch there in November.Music Business Worldwide
