It's been a while since the last ruminations on a possible merger between Warner Music Group and EMI. Enders Analysis, a London-based firm, brought up the topic last week in a publication on a business deal it calls inevitable. Hits must have got its hands on the publication. A post yesterday in the Rumor Mill because it pulls some tantilizing quotes from the analysis. "Only a straight buy-out by either EMI or WMG will resolve the complex issues of HQ and personnel that a merger raises," argues Enders, which probably saw the clashes and differences at Sony BMG and assumed its peers were watching and learning how not to merge two ego-driven companies with vast cultural and operational differences.

The EU would approve the merger, Enders believes, and estimates annual savings would be in the range of $300 million. The publication concludes that Bronfman and his backers "could make a timely and attractive exit from their investment," which is what many think they've wanted all along.