Viacom Looks to Exit Music Publishing Business

NEW YORK, February 7: Viacom has said that it is looking
into offloading Famous Music, one of the top 10 music publishing businesses in
the U.S.

Viacom has retained UBS Investment Bank to act as financial
advisor to assist in this process. Famous Music was founded in 1928 by
Paramount Pictures' predecessor, the Famous-Lasky Corporation. Its catalog of
more than 125,000 copyrights spans seven decades and includes music from such
Oscar-winning motion pictures as The Godfather, Forrest Gump and Titanic, as well as classic television shows including The
Brady Bunch, Cheers, Mission: Impossible and the Star Trek franchise. It also features contemporary artists
like Shakira, Akon, Eminem and Busta Rhymes.