WHAT PRICE SLIPKNOT?

The Roadrunner band's last album did 1.3 million OTC in the U.S. alone and many think the next one, "Iowa," slated for a July 17 release, could do 3-5 million. Managed by Steve Richards (who also has Epic's Mudvayne), the band is on the Ozzfest main stage this summer. Roadrunner has been distributed by RED.

So, there’s no better time for owner Cees Wessel to put 49% of his Roadrunner label on the sales block for a cool $30 million. Part of that cash would then be used to pay back the $17 million debt Roadrunner is said to owe edel from a recent loan the Germany music company is now calling in.

Meanwhile, after a steady decline of its German stock, edel is now shopping RED—80% of which it bought from Sony for $75 million in 1999. Despite the fact edel still owes money to Sony on its acquisition of RED and Roadrunner is in debt to edel, insiders say a Sony-Slipknot pairing is a no-go due to the many legal entanglements being packed.

Roadrunner officials are now rumbling that BMG/RCA is the frontrunner for grabbing the label, as well as Slipknot's new album, though sources say any rupture of the Roadrunner/RED distrib pact will face litigation from edel. Bankers are now putting even more pressure on edel's Michael Haentjes to undertake a distressed-asset sale—including RED—or face a takeover by June 30, though he's reportedly negotiating a six-month extension. The company, which owns the European rights to Disney music, has admitted it spent too much on acquisitions in the past, burning through between $300-400 million. The company sold its interests in Viva and Play It Again Sam at a major discount.

Could Strauss Zelnick, flush with Nippon Columbia yen, be interested in buying RED, which turned a $5 million profit last year under the leadership of Ken Antonelli? What's the value of an indie distributor in this day and age anyway? With a rate between five and six times annual earnings, is it worth $25-$30 million? That would be a long ways from the $75 million edel shelled out to buy 80% of the company just two years ago.