German media giant Bertelsmann AG has made an offer to Napster’s
shareholders in an attempt to buy out the remainder of the troubled
music service, according to media reports. It already holds a stake
in the company.
In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Bertelsmann
CEO Thomas Middelhoff said that infighting among Napster’s
shareholders, specifically John Fanning and Hummer Winblad, is
holding back the deal.
John Fanning is the uncle of Napster’s teenage founder and the
original poster boy of peer-to-peer computing, Sean Fanning. Hummer
Winblad is the venture capital firm that invested in Napster in
2000. John Fanning is engaged in a lawsuit against Hummer Winblad
over the nature of the latter’s shareholdings.
Contrary to some media speculation, Bertelsmann has not
disclosed the size of its offer.
