Citi Denies Efforts to Sell Indebted EMI

Citigroup Inc. denied Monday that it is in talks about a sale of the indebted music publisher EMI Group PLC, which is owned by the private-equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners.

"Citi isn't currently seeking buyers for EMI and isn't in talks with any prospective buyers at this time," the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Recent reports suggested that Citi, which has $4.2 billion in outstanding loans to EMI, wanted a sale of the company.

The speculation comes just 10 days after Guy Hands' Terra Firma filed a lawsuit in New York accusing Citi of fraud when it sold EMI to Terra Firma in 2007.

Terra Firma said Citi, which made about $185 million in fees and interest income on the deal, according to the complaint, drove up EMI's price by misrepresenting that there was another interested bidder for the company. The complaint also alleges Citi undermined Terra Firma's ability to manage EMI as part of a plot to wrest control of the company and sell it to Warner Music Group Corp.

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