The most famous recording studio of all time is being hocked off.The Beatles' Abbey Road recordings helped define the 1960s, and are among the most famous of all time.The studio was purpose built by the band's record label, EMI, for £100,000 (or aro
The most famous recording studio of all time is being hocked off.
The Beatles’ Abbey Road recordings helped define the 1960s, and are among the most famous of all time.
The studio was purpose built by the band’s record label, EMI, for £100,000 (or around £4.53 million today) , and The Beatles used it for almost all their recordings between 1962 and 1969.
Ironically, The Beatles final LP, Abbey Road, was not recorded at the studio. Nevertheless, its cover depicting the fab four on a zebra crossing outside has become a pop culture icon.
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was also recorded in the studio.
All this means little to EMI’s new owner, however.
Last week, private equity outfit Terra Firma said it had come to the realisation it had paid £2 billion too much for EMI when it picked up the label in a 2007 leveraged buy-out (who knew this whole internet thing would have such an effect on profit).
Today, The Financial Times reports that Terra Firm has put Abbey Road up for sale, which should recoup a tiny slither of the missing billions.
Terra Firma, led by financier Guy Hands, bought EMI for £4.2 billion the 2007 buy-out, borrowing £3.3 billion to fund the deal.
On February 4, EMI announced a £1.75 billion loss, and a so-far-unsuccessful bid to secure £105 million from new investors to avoid breeching its banking covenants with Citibank. Terra Firma has until June to buy itself some Citibank love.
