Wall Street eyes Jackson’s assets

As the world sorts through the pieces of Michael Jackson’s life one month after his death, so, too, does Wall Street.
A handful of major financial firms have made inquiries into buying the Jackson estate’s 50% share of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company that controls most of the Beatles song catalog. Among them are Colony Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Plainfield Asset Management and media mogul Haim Saban. Sony/ATV is by far the most valuable asset in Jackson’s estate, and his 50% stake could be worth as much a $500 million. Jackson bought the majority of the Beatles catalog in 1985 for $47.5 million, after an informal chat with Paul McCartney about the wisdom of buying song catalogs. Since then, Sony/ATV — formed from a 1995 partnership with Sony — has bought up the rights to thousands of songs from artists, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Beck and Taylor Swift. In recent years, it made a big push into TV production, helping to balance out its radio business. “Sony/ATV’s really started to gain greater value in recent years,” said Barry Massarsky, a music industry consultant. “I’m very bullish on its prospects.” John Branca, the entertainment lawyer who structured Jackson’s initial purchase of the Beatles catalog and is now an executor of his estate, said the Jackson stake in Sony/ATV “is not for sale.” The stake is likely to continue growing in value, and some Jackson family members have pondered the merits of selling. Others have proposed cobbling together a consortium to buy out Sony’s share in the publisher.