UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP has reportedly “received interest from companies including PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS and BERTELSMANN AG for music-publishing catalogs it’s selling,” reports BLOOMBERG, citing “three people familiar with the situation.”

UMG is spinning off the catalogs as part of its deal to acquire EMI MUSIC. BLOOMBERG writes UMG “plans to reduce the number to about 20 to 30 candidates in the next two to three weeks.”

“What people like about this business is that the publishing rights are still, over the long haul, likely to be good growth stories,” said SANFORD C BERNSTEIN Analyst CLAUDIO ASPESI. “The opportunity to make this a growth industry within music is significant and at the same time you have fairly predictable cash flows.”