Electronics giant Sony has agreed to pay $2.3 billion for rival EMI, making it the world’s biggest music publisher.
Sony now has more than two million songs under its banner and it plans to drive its streaming business through this massive back catalogue.
A spokesman said Sony would command 26 per cent of the music publishing industry after taking over EMI, which has 15 per cent market share.
Kenichiro Yoshida, who took over as CEO last month, said: “We are thrilled to bring EMI Music Publishing into the Sony family and maintain our number one position in the music publishing industry.
“This investment in content intellectual property is a key stepping stone for our long-term growth.”
Sony already ran runs EMI Music Publishing and previously held 30 per cent of the business. It will own 90 per cent after buying the shares owned by Mubadala Investment Company.
The Japanese firm, which has seen great success with its PlayStation 4 console, said it will focus on electronics, entertainment and financial services over the next three years.
In other big dealmaking news, Adobe Systems is to buy eCommerce services provider Magento Commerce from private equity firm Permira for $1.68bn in cash.
The Photoshop maker also said it would buy back up to $8bn of shares through the 2021 financial year. It intends to boost its Experience Cloud analytics and advertising business.
“Adobe is the only company with leadership in content creation, marketing, advertising, analytics and now commerce – enabling real-time experiences across the entire customer journey,” Brad Rencher, an executive vice president and general manager at Adobe, said in a statement.
A third major deal was announced on Tuesday as IT services provider Roper Technologies is to buy tax and regulation software company PowerPlan for $1.1bn.
In 2016 Roper bought business software firm Deltek from Thoma Bravo for $2.8bn.