BMG buys heavy metal for £40m

Music rights firm BMG today bought the back catalogue of Sanctuary Records, the label behind heavy metal giants Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Iron Maiden, for an estimated £40m.

EMI previously owned Sanctuary's catalogue of 170,000 songs but it has been sold after the takeover by Universal Music – on the orders of European regulators. Media giant Bertelsmann and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts own BMG.