By Ismael AbduSalaam
After completing a $24 million dollar acquisition of Death Row Records, Global Music Group was hit with a $25 million dollar lawsuit from venture capitalist Ron Goldberg, who claimed to have been illegally cut out of the deal by his partners.
In an exclusive statement to AllHipHop.com, the Global Music group disclosed their stance on the lawsuit and the details of the acquisition.
“We represent Global Music Group, Inc, a New York Corporation which was the successful bidder at the auction of the assets of the bankruptcy estates of Death Row Records, Inc., and Marion Knight, Jr,” explained Roger Muse, a partner at the Beverly Hills business and entertainment law firm of Muse Methany. “My client and its principals put up all the money necessary to make the bid and were successfully present at the Bankruptcy auction to make that successful bid.”
Muse also states that Ron Goldberg was never a member of Global Music Group, or recruited investors for the company as he alleges in his lawsuit.
“Mr. Goldberg is not a principal of Global Music Group Inc., a New York corporation, nor does he have any ownership in that company or in its assets, including the Death Row assets subject to the company’s court-approved bid,” Muse explicates. “Mr. Goldberg has apparently filed a Delaware corporation under the same name of my client; but of course anyone can file a corporation in any state under any name as long as the name is not then in use in that state by another corporation. Mr. Goldberg’s claim that it is his Delaware Global Music Group was the ‘true’ bidder of the bankruptcy assets simply has no merit.”
Goldberg’s lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, claims that the investors he recruited conspired with Global Music Group vice president Anthony Marotta to use “confidential know-how, data, techniques, and contacts” to secure the bid without his consent.
Among the investors he claimed to have recruited are president Susan Berg and Reggie Bush of RSB Investment Strategies.
Global Music Group secured the winning $24 million dollar bid for Death Row Records in June 24.
The deal was confirmed as finalized today in a statement released by Global Music Group.
The acquisition gives the company the entire Death Row Records catalog of recordings, artist’s agreements, artwork, music videos and publishing rights, all free of past debts and lawsuits.