Buy-out house Terra Firma has received approaches for parts of EMI, a source familiar with the matter said, after a cash injection bought it more time to sort out the ailing music group.
A number of parties have expressed interest in parts of EMI's music publishing business, a jewel in EMI's crown, including a joint approach from buyout firm KKR and German music venture BMG, the source said.
The world's largest music publishing division - boasting a roster of artists from the Beatles to Jay-Z - is a strong business with stable revenues, making money every time one of its songs is played on the radio, online or on TV.
Rival music groups, including perennial merger candidate Warner Music Group, may face regulatory scrutiny if they attempt to buy the division. But other private equity firms also view it as a potential takeover target.
Terra Firma, the private equity firm of British financier Guy Hands, prevented EMI from falling into the clutches of lender Citigroup when it secured a last-minute £105m equity injection from investors.
EMI, like much of the music industry, has been hit by mass illegal downloading and a move away from album sales to single digital tracks, and is struggling under the weight of the debt piled on at the time of Terra Firma's £4 billion takeover in 2007.
