Allen Klein (then de facto Beatles manager) attempted to set up a deal for Apple Corps to buy out ATV, but that also failed.
Ten years later, Jackson merged his catalogue with that of Sony Corporation of America to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Northern Songs was dissolved.
[6] George Martin was offered a share in Northern Songs, as well, but he turned it down because his employment with EMI presented a conflict of interest.
[11] The money gathered by Northern Songs was channelled into a second company, Lenmac Enterprises, owned by Lennon and McCartney at 40% each and NEMS (North End Music Stores) at 20%.
[14] After the offer closed, Lennon and McCartney owned 15% each, worth £195,200 ($320,000), NEMS a 7.5% interest,[15] and James and Silver (who served as Northern Songs' chairmen), controlling 37.5%, with Harrison and Starr sharing 1.6%.
[23] In March 1969, James and Silver abruptly sold their shares in Northern Songs to Associated Television for £1,525,000,[8] giving Lennon and McCartney no notice or the chance to buy them out.
[25] Lennon and McCartney then attempted to gain a controlling interest in the company[24] but their bid, part of a long and acrimonious fight, ultimately failed.
[26] The financial power of Lew Grade, their adversary in the bidding war, ensured that the songs written by the two Beatles passed into the control of ATV.
[24] Allen Klein (the de facto manager of the Beatles in the wake of Epstein's death) then attempted to set up a deal for Apple Corps to buy ATV out, which was stopped by attorney John Eastman—Linda McCartney's brother, and son of McCartney's future business manager, Lee Eastman—who sent a letter to ATV informing them that Klein was not authorised to act on Apple's behalf.
Although technically true, Klein was the de facto manager for Lennon, Harrison and Starr, and also had McCartney's verbal go-ahead for the deal.
[10] Next, a block of investors who owned a small, but crucial, percentage of shares were lobbied by both sides to either sell out or cooperate to take control of Northern Songs.
Unfortunately, during negotiations, Lennon expressed his absolute disdain for businessmen, saying, "I'm sick to death of being fucked about by men in suits sitting on their fat arses in the City!
[29] In the late 1970s, the parent company of ATV Music, by then known as Associated Communications Corporation (ACC) began experiencing financial difficulties.
McCartney, with Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, offered £21 million but the offer was declined by Grade who decided not to sell Northern Songs separately after other suitors, including CBS Songs, EMI Music Publishing, Warner Communications, Paramount Pictures and the Entertainment Co. showed interest in buying ATV Music as a whole.
[30][31] Meanwhile, Australian businessman Robert Holmes à Court had been acquiring shares of ACC and launched a takeover bid in earnest in January 1982.
Grade resigned as chairman and was replaced by Holmes à Court who successfully acquired a controlling interest in the company.
[35] In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that Charles Koppelman's and Marty Bandier's The Entertainment Co. had made a tentative agreement with Holmes à Court to buy the catalogue for £30.5 million but in early August, Holmes à Court's team contacted Jackson again, with both sides making concessions.
[34] These included Holmes à Court adding more assets and agreeing to establish a scholarship at a United States university in Jackson's name.
[citation needed] In 2017, it was reported that McCartney had reached a settlement with Sony in his effort to regain control over much of the Beatles' catalog.