Dec 16 (Reuters) - Virgin Music Group, the global independent music unit of Universal

Music Group, said on Monday it will acquire Downtown Music in an all-cash deal valued

at $775 million (737.32 million euros).

Downtown was founded in 2007 as a music publishing company. It works with entrepreneurs,

songwriters, rights holders and artist - from newcomers to hitmakers - collectively serving over

5,000 business clients and more than four million creators across 145 countries.

According to its website, it helps "millions of creators, rights holders and their partners

to manage their music as a business and get paid fairly for their work."

Virgin Music Group and Downtown Music will continue to operate independently through a

customary regulatory approval period. Once the deal closes, the companies will merge.

In October, Universal Music Group partnered with Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence

music company KLAY Vision to develop AI tools for the music industry in an ethical way.

The world's biggest music label is also engaged in litigation with Anthropic AI and Suno and

Udio over the use of the label's recordings to train music-generating AI systems.

The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

(1 euro = $1.0511)