Following recent approval by the FTC, Universal Music Group has announced its acquisition of Univision Music Group. Under the deal, the two companies will merge into one company called Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE).
UMLE will be headed by Jesus Lopez, who currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Universal Music for Latin America and Spain. He will be based in Miami and will report directly to Universal Music Group President and COO Zach Horowitz.
Univision Music Group’s President Jose Behar has left the company and will not be involved with UMLE.
The purchase also brings in Univision Music Group’s sister companies under the UMLE umbrella, including Fonovisa, Disa and La Calle, which, according to Nielsen SoundScan, represent a 35.9% share of the U.S. Latin market, This market share, combined with that of Universal’s other Latin labels—Universal Music Latino and Machete—constitutes 49.9% of the total U.S. Latino music market.
Universal Music Group has also announced a licensing agreement with Gotuit, a leading provider of metadata technologies, to develop new personalized means for consumers to enjoy their artists’ music via satellite radio, HD radio and over the Internet.
The simultaneously announced developments signal a concerted effort to expand the company’s content offering, and to pioneer new methods of disseminating that content.
Financial terms of both agreements were not released.
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