Sony Corp. plans to cut 326 jobs at EMI Publishing within two years after U.S. and European regulators approve its $2.2 billion acquisition of the U.K. music company.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, jointly owned by Sony and the estate of Michael Jackson, may eliminate 152 positions in the first year, with the rest coming afterward, according to a document by UBS AG, an adviser to Sony. It lists $39 million in severance costs.
The European Commission will grant regulatory approval to the acquisition Friday the Financial Times reported Wednesday. Sony/ATV will administer copyrights of EMI songs for Sony and its investors. The combined catalogs will give Sony/ATV 31 percent of the market, making it the world's biggest music publisher, according to the document.