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Beyonce's dad, Sanctuary split
Struggling music giant, which largely blamed its financial woes on Knowles' Urban Records company, parts ways with Beyonce's father.
A split several months in the making became official today, as Mathew Knowles, music exec and father of R&B diva Beyonce, parted ways with Sanctuary, the UK music giant with which he'd been affiliated since 2003.
According to a statement released today, "the parties have come to a mutual agreement to part ways. As a result, Mathew regains ownership of his companies, Music World Entertainment and the Music World Music Record Label."
Sanctuary is home to the world's largest independent music label, a music management division, and a licensing and merchandising company.
The move is the final chapter of a deal Knowles struck with Sanctuary that the music giant subsequently blamed for many of its financial woes. In 2003, Sanctuary acquired Knowles' management firm Music World Entertainment and record label Music World Music Record Label. It created Urban Records in September 2003 as a result of the deal.
But Urban Records performed poorly, the company said, contributing significantly to a group loss in 2005 of 143 million pounds. Urban Records had a number of delayed, rescheduled, and canceled releases in 2005.
"The effect of its various announcements during the year and the circumstances referred to were particularly damaging to the company's standing in the industry due to the uncertainty it created over the financial viability of the company," Sanctuary said at the time.
In January, Sanctuary, the world's biggest independent music label, announced a 110 million-pound ($191 million) equity fund-raising rescue deal to save it from those losses. Sanctuary has made several rounds of layoffs and issued a string of profit warnings last year, saying in January that its annual losses have more than quadrupled.
Sanctuary's label has a wide range of artists on its roster, from Morrissey and Kiss to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Spiritualized, and the Strokes. It also has several management companies with clients including Beyonce and Destiny's Child, Robert Plant, The Who, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Manic Street Preachers, Mick Fleetwood, Slayer, Slipknot, and Super Furry Animals.
Sanctuary's licensing and merchandising division counts 50 Cent, Eminem, and Elton John among its clients.
Last August, Sanctuary revealed that its buyout talks with EMI and Warner Music Group had failed.
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