Viacom
According to news reports, Viacom is selling Famous Music for about $370 million to Sony/ATV, which is co-owned by none other than Sony
This has been a long-rumored development; there was already conjecture that Viacom might sell Famous Music to Sony/ATV for somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million. Other possible bidders included Warner Music
This seems like a winning idea for both entities. After all, Viacom shed some of its slower-growth media properties when it parted ways with now-separate CBS
Shareholders are probably also pleased that Viacom has announced a $4 billion stock-buyback initiative, as well. It comes on the heels of a previous plan to buy back $3 billion of its shares, which it has nearly completed.
Although Viacom is definitely getting into some new and interesting lines in the realm of entertainment content (for example, its recent moves to acquire some video game-related entities like Xfire and Atom Entertainment), having a piece of the business hanging around that isn't an integral part of its long-term, more forward-looking goals doesn't really make sense. Given the fact that focus is often a strength, shareholders should be glad Viacom is willing to shed businesses that aren't part of its overall strategy.
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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.