Sony Corp considers Music division spin-off

Sony Corp. has confirmed that it will this week discuss proposals that it should sell part of its entertainment business as a new spin-off company to investors on the stock exchange.

The news comes a week after activist hedge-fund investor Daniel Loeb encouraged the spin-off of the company’s music and movie divisions in a letter to Sony CEO Kaz Hirai.

Loeb – whose Third Point LLC owns around 6% of Sony stock – is urging the Sony boss to consider a partial spin-off of its music and movie division.

He suggested that taking up to 20% of the entertainment division public would help unlock value as well as freeing up capital to overhaul the company’s electronics business.

In a Tokyo briefing yesterday (May 21), Hirai said, “The proposal from Third Point, Dan Loeb is something that we should discuss thoroughly at a board meeting and then we’ll decide Sony’s stance.

“Therefore, we are now going to start the discussion and we are still at the starting stage.”

The news comes a week after Sony said in a statement: “The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony’s growth and are not for sale,” in response to intial reports.

Source: Music Week