This morning it was reported that EMI has accepted a bid by private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. EMI, which had recently opened its books to Warner Music Group and had received interest from a number of private equity firms, said Terra Firma's bid of $4.7 billion was the best of the proposals it has received. Said EMI chairman John Gildersleeve in a statement:

"The global music industry is undergoing significant change and, whilst EMI is confident in its ability to deliver its recently announced restructuring plans, significant uncertainty exists as to the timing and extent of future market developments. Terra Firma's offer is the most attractive proposal received and delivers cash now, without regulatory uncertainty and with the minimum of operational risk to the company."

Terra Firma's CEO had the following to say:

"Terra Firma's objective is to build on EMI's current position as one of the world's leading music companies and accelerate the development of its digital and online strategy to fully exploit this long-term growth opportunity."

So EMI put a greater value on regulatory certainty and lower operational risk (read: a merger with WMG could result in conflicting styles and loyalties) and less value on synergies and their resulting cost savings from a WMG acquisition. Both portend significant changes: Cut and merged divisions, layoffs and increased emphasis on digital.