Warner manufacturing sold to Cinram. (1 Viewer)

[John Kotches]

The manufacturing and distribution arms of WEA have been sold to Cinram International for approximately US$1 billion.

Reported by the Toronto Star

There is no mention of the sale of WEA catalog, which (IMO) would fetch a substantially larger sale price.

Regards,

 

[KeithH]

Big news, indeed. Thanks, John. According to the Toronto Star:

The businesses being sold by AOL Time Warner - striving to slash its $26-billion-U.S. debt - include factories in Olyphant, Pa.; Commerce, Calif.; and Alsdorf, Germany as well as American and European distribution facilities.

$26 billion US?!

 

[Lee Scoggins]

:rolleyes

I first reported on this in the thread about Warner Music in discussions with BMG.

Why have a separate posting here?

Administrator, please combine these threads.

There is no mention of the sale of WEA catalog

There was a mention in the Wall Street Journal which is a far better source than the Toronto papers. A deal is said to be a few weeks away.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

For more information...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=150081

 

[John Kotches]

Lee,

Your statement that the WSJ is a "better source" than the Toronto papers is amusing. I'll have to tell my Canadian friends that their papers aren't as good as the WSJ. I'm sure they'll be mighty impressed.

I guess that the folks at the Toronto Star simply made up the quotations too, after all they aren't as good a source as the WSJ.

Need I remind you that Cinram is a Canadian firm, and the news of the sale breaking from a Canadian paper should hardly be a surprise.


Regards,

 

[Marc Colella]

There was a mention in the Wall Street Journal which is a far better source than the Toronto papers. A deal is said to be a few weeks away.

Ya, our papers aren't reliable for real news items. We really only specialize in news on "sled-by" moose shootings and such. :rolleyes

Or for a more reliable source we should just read the New York Times. Maybe Jayson Blair can give us the inside scoop.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Let's go with this one for now. The previous thread was "before the fact," this one after. Also, The Toronto Star has won its share of journalism awards; it's a very respected news source.

There's a related thread in Software as well, but its focus is on the hoped-for (by many but not all) demise of the snapper case for DVD.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

The businesses being sold by AOL Time Warner - striving to slash its $26-billion-U.S. debt - include factories in Olyphant, Pa.; Commerce, Calif.

So I guess the felicitly-named "WAMO" is now history. :frowning:

The Canadians have bought up the major US producer of DVDs!

[rant]Of course you know, this means war! 54-40 or fight![/rant]

 

[Anthony Monaco]

As a Canadian who was very proud of having Cinram manufacture cd's in Canada (before they came, our cd's were mostly made in Germany & the US) I have my misgivings about this purchase. In the mid 90's (were probably 75% of cds here were made by Cinram)I could not get them to play in my Toshiba cd player, Toshiba DVD player & my Pioneer LD player would only play them before it warmed up (their cd's that were manufactured earlier than that caused no problems). Between Cinram & Napster I stopped buying cds altogether (except for the odd MFSL, DCC & MCA's Ultimate Master Disks). I hope they fixed their problem otherwise were in for some fun!

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I earlier said the following:

There was a mention in the Wall Street Journal which is a far better source than the Toronto papers.

I do believe the WSJ is far better than the Star (I have lived and worked as a consultant in Toronto), but I was really referring to the superiority of the Journal in capturing merger news. They simply have a great network of contacts embedded in investment banking firms. There was no intention to slam the Star, just to point out that the Journal usually covers the business news better, of which most media critics would agree with me.

It is interesting to note that my story and thread was based on a story the WSJ ran on July 15th, a few days before the Star story done after the deal on the 18th.

Also, the Star leaves out the big news of the Warner Music division being on the block. That is at least important to the many AOL TW employees in Canada and Canadian shareholders.

It is also interesting that Kotches criticizes me when I post some things on the same topic, but here is just an updating of the exact same story I posted in the earlier thread. I'm sorry but I don't agree with Jack that they should not be combined.

In any event, I think it is great that Warner Music may be sold, they have been underperforming of late and sometimes new management blood can be a good thing. I'm very curious to see how this impacts DVDA.

 

[John Kotches]

Lee,

You say there's no intent on slamming any particular publication, after others (besides myself) point out the high reputation that the Toronto paper has earned, just as the WSJ has earned theirs.

The sale of the core Warner assets (Warner Music Group and Motion Pictures) is still in doubt -- and one has to wonder if

• BMG can line up sufficient capital resources
• Regulatory Agencies in the US and EU will approve the merger

Neither of these is a lock.

As far as underperforming goes, how do we define "underperforming" these days? Didn't meet analyst's expectations? There's a laugher. Anymore, objective performance means nothing....


Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

As far as underperforming goes, how do we define "underperforming" these days? Didn't meet analyst's expectations? There's a laugher. Anymore, objective performance means nothing....

Not true, missing quarterly earning via LOSSES (!), can have a big impact on the Board of Directors who are increasingly itchy (witness the revolving senior managers at AOL who have left and been replaced) or institutional investors who have no tolerance to park money in underperforming stocks.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Or for a more reliable source we should just read the New York Times. Maybe Jayson Blair can give us the inside scoop.

Marc, I'm sorry but I don't read the New York Times, it's too liberal for me.

I apologize if you and the other Canadian residents took offense. I should have stated that the WSJ is better IMHO with merger news and the like.

We should really be discussing what impact the Music group might have here on new titles, no?

 

[Marc Colella]

Marc, I'm sorry but I don't read the New York Times, it's too liberal for me.

I apologize if you and the other Canadian residents took offense. I should have stated that the WSJ is better IMHO with merger news and the like.

It's alright Lee... I was paritally joking anyways.
I didn't mean to sound like I was offended.

Somewhat OT:

Any news on a pressing plant for SACDs in Canada?

Not sure what type of effect it'll have, but the price of SACDs in Canada is just sickening. I figure if there being pressed here, we would see a drop in price. There are at least 20-30 titles I want to pick up - but can't justify spending (on average) $35-40 CAD per disc.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Any news on a pressing plant for SACDs in Canada?

I am only aware of ones in the US. Sony just formally opened the new Indiana lines a few weeks ago.

I am sorry that the Super Audios are so expensive in Canada. It appears to be price gouging to me. Distribution costs on a bulk basis from Indiana would not seem to cover the gap in prices.

Can you cost-effectively order in bulk from US Amazon or the big internet retailers like Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct, Red Trumpet, etc.?

 

[Anthony Monaco]

Marc - try Eddwards on Yonge north of Eglington, except for the Sony's at $27 they have a large selection (mostly Universal's) in the low 2o's (Pink Floyd & Police in the high teens).
Lee, from someone who has been living in the Toronto area & reading that paper (as well as others) for over 30 years... don't worry about it. But for CDN business (re perspective) I will not rely on American papers (nor will I rely on the Star).
John, I like & respect most of what you have to say(I seem to follow you around the net). The Star's business section is behind not only the WSJ, but third (of four) up here in the city.

 

[John Kotches]

Anthony,

And yet, the info is accurate is it not? That's what's really at issue for the moment.

Regards,

 

[Anthony Monaco]

John, your right(my buddy owns a bunch of stock & is letting me hear it). Let's just hope that thier quality control is better than it was in the mid 90's.

 

[Marc Colella]

Marc - try Eddwards on Yonge north of Eglington, except for the Sony's at $27 they have a large selection (mostly Universal's) in the low 2o's (Pink Floyd & Police in the high teens).

Anthony,

thanks for the suggestion.

I'll give Eddwards a try. Do you know the phone number? I'd like to enquire about a few titles over the phone before making the treck there from Front Street.