YouTube and its parent company Google are close to wrapping up an arrangement to purchase a minority stake in music video site VEVO, according to All Things D.
People familiar with the deal have indicated to author Peter Kafka that the companies have made up their minds, but the agreement hasn’t been finalized. Kafka’s sources said the investment would be bigger than Google’s investment in Machinima, which came as part of a $35 million funding round last May.
Kafka said the new deal will have VEVO pass along one-third of its revenue to YouTube and over half to the music labels. The company brought in $150 million in 2011 and was projected to hit $280 million in revenue in 2012. VEVO’s original deal with YouTube was previously reported to expire at the end of 2012.
VEVO was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between Sony Music, Universal Music and Abu Dhabi Media. The company has risen to become Google’s top partner channel. Market research firm comScore estimated VEVO’s December 2012 reach as 52 million unique viewers and 592 million videos watched.
Google and Facebook were both said to be interested in investing in VEVO last May.
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VEVO launched in Brazil last August and it arrived in France, Spain and Italy last November. VEVO.com is currently available in 10 countries, and its 50,000 videos are accessible in over 200 countries via its partnership with YouTube.
Image credit: iStockphoto
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