April 11, 2002 15:48

HMV TO FLOAT

The company hope to raise £600million to pay off their £1 billion debt pile, some of which is down to Mariah Carey's multi-million kiss-off payment...

Troubled music giant EMI is attempting to clear some of its massive debt by floating one of its arms, music retailer HMV, on the Stock Exchange.

Analysts expect the company to raise up to £600million, with the majority used to pay off debt and the rest used to develop the chain and open new stores, as well as help the Waterstones group of bookstores that EMI also own.

EMI Group, home to Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue, has a debt pile estimated at over £1billion. The label issued two profit warnings at the start of this year blaming a multi-million golden kiss-off payment to Mariah Carey as well as bad sales. It made a £2m loss for the March to September period last year, down from a £59m profit 12 months earlier.

Last month, EMI announced it was slashing 1,800 jobs – almost a fifth of its workforce – in a bid to save £100million a year.