EMI waits for Warner reaction

MUSIC group EMI is on tenterhooks as it waits to see if Time Warner will approve its £1bn bid, which will propel it into the big league. The American music business will consider the proposal at its board meeting today.

The UK firm which is trading ahead of analysts expectations for once, insists it does not need the deal. But scale is crucial because music sales are in decline because of piracy.

Chairman Eric Nicoli is confident the group's third tilt at Warner Music, believed to be a £1bn cash-and-shares bid, will not be blocked by regulators. He said: 'We would not have made a firm proposal if we didn't think we had good prospects.'

EMI could face rivalry from a team led by former Seagram boss Edgar Bronfman, who is thought to have bid £1.5bn for all of Warner Music.

EMI posted a better-than-expected pretax profit of £39.4m in the six months to the end of September, down from £42.2m last year. Tesco executive director John Gildersleeve will replace Sir Dominic Cadbury as EMI's deputy chairman next February.