The European Commission has sent a statement to the music units of Japan's Sony Corp. and Germany's Bertelsmann AG, objecting to a proposed merger between the two units, a Sony official said Tuesday.
The so-called statement of objections lays out why the European Union's executive body believes the proposed merger between Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and Bertelsmann's BMG would be unacceptable under the EU's competition law.
The Sony official said that the New York-based Sony Music Entertainment has received the statement -- but declined to reveal the specific reasons outlined by the commission.