Terra Firma bid for EMI extended ... again

Terra Firma, a European private equity firm, has again extended a deadline for EMI Group PLC (LSE: EMI) shareholders to accept the nearly two month old offer for the company. The firm is willing to pay 265 pence a share, roughly $5.34, but EMI's shares opened at 268.5 pence, or $5.42, yesterday, according to a Billboard report from London. The new deadline is set for July 12 after the previous deadline passed Wednesday.

The Billboard report indicated that Terra Firma had already received 3.53% of issued shares by the time the offer's deadline on June 28 passed. After two extensions, that amount has increased only 0.03%. The report also maintains that a spokesman indicated the firm would be willing to continue extensions until July 26 and that it is possible many shareholders are waiting for a higher counter bid from Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). WMG has been rumored since the Terra Firma buyout announcement was made to be preparing for an offer, even though EMI and WMG have flirted with joining for over seven years.

Stockholders may be hopeful for a bid from WMG, but the combination of these two music labels could be an unwanted and unfortunate move for the record industry. Both labels are committed to different and opposing growth models for the industry -- the most important and largest being the place of Digital Rights Management technology, something WMG is devoted to using. EMI dropped DRM use from its tracks in April and launched Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s new iTunes Plus in May, the first of numerous DRM-free services.