The assets of bankrupt file-sharing service Napster went up for
auction on Friday. The asking price is $25 million and the auction
will conclude on 27th August. According to reports from Reuters and
Associated Press, the list of likely bidders includes media and
record companies, music retailers and venture capitalists.
German media giant Bertelsmann has long expressed an interest in
buying Napster’s assets. It recently upped its bid by $9 million,
bringing its total bid to over $100 million. However, included in
that figure is the sum of $85 million in debts owed by Napster to
Bertelsmann.
It is possible that the bankruptcy judge will disregard some or
all of the $85 million debt in which case Bertelsmann’s success at
auction is far from guaranteed.
