[Harry!]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news

FRESH from being belted out during a 17-date stay at London’s O2 Arena, the European publishing rights to most of the Spice Girls’ hits are set to change hands in a £75m deal.

Los Angeles-based Bug Music, one of the world’s largest independent music publishers, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy 90,000 music copyrights put up for sale by Universal Music.

The catalogues, including songs recorded by the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Bryan Adams, are being sold by Universal to meet competition concerns over its £1 billion deal to buy BMG Music Publishing, which creates a new market leader. It has received offers in excess of €100m (£74m).

Bug has been on an expansion drive since last year when Crossroads Media, owned jointly by Spectrum Equity Investors and the Paramount veteran Tom McGrath, bought control. In July it acquired the publisher Windswept.

Universal must complete the sell-off by February to satisfy the European Commission.