Phew, that was close! Greedy Guy Hands, the boss of private equity firm Terra Firma which owns EMI, has announced that he’s secured about £105 million from investors and the parent company to pay off a debt covenant to Citibank. He needed the money to prevent the company from defaulting on a loan to the bank which would have given Citigroup the right to re-possess it.
Charles Allen, the executive chairman of EMI Music, in a statement.”We are very pleased to have received this confirmation of an additional investment, which is a vote of confidence in EMI from Terra Firma and its investors, following the significant improvement in the company’s operating performance.” This gives the ailing label another year before Citibank can call in the £3 billion debt EMI has with it.
