Heading a biscuits business may not be ideal training for becoming a music mogul, but Eric Nicoli made the switch between those roles when he took over as chairman of EMI in 1999 from Sir Colin Southgate.
Yesterday EMI, which has tried and failed to link up with its rival, Warner, looked to have found a new partner in the private equity groups, Permira and Apollo.
Mr Nicoli, who has a degree in nuclear physics and who declared that he had a “life-long passion” for music, joined EMI as a non-executive director in July 1993.
He became an executive director of the company in May 1999.
Since then Mr Nicoli has tried repeatedly to pull off a deal that would transform EMI’s fortunes, but has been thwarted by rivals, regulators and bad luck. He has tried three times to merge with Warner Music, but failed each time, prompting some to question whether he is the right man to lead the music company in the long term.
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Mr Nicoli began his career in marketing at Rowntree Mackintosh, the sweets company, where he worked for eight years.
At United Biscuits, Mr Nicoli was best known for winning a long legal battle to prove that the company’s Jaffa Cake was a cake and not a biscuit, meaning that it was exempt from VAT.
However, he has had less success in regulatory battles in music and next week looks like losing an argument with the Government, which is expected to turn around and reject EMI’s lobbying for an extension to the existing 50-year copyright in recorded music.