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"Richard Branson is reportedly interested in buying back Virgin Records. Universal Records could sell the company in the near future in order to gain regulatory clearance to take over EMI. The British businessman is considering joining with French entrepreneur Patrick Zelnik to buy the label, should this occur. &amp;quot;It is a reality that Branson is interested in supporting a bid by my company, we have spoken about this, this is true,&amp;quot; Zelnik told The Guardian. &amp;quot;It is early, Richard is never going to invest, same for me, until there is a real business plan.&amp;quot; Branson launched Virgin Records as a 20-year-old with Simon Draper and Nik Powell in 1972, and is said to have been looking into returning to the music industry. A spokesman for Virgin Group said: &amp;quot;Richard Branson and Virgin have been assessing how to get back into the recorded music business for many years. &amp;quot;The potential disposal of Virgin Records by Universal Music offers a wonderful opportunity to recreate a dynamic independent label in the market.&amp;quot; However, Zelnik added that no official approach has been made from the pair to Universal Records. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/media/news/a393801/richard-branson-interested-in-buying-back-virgin-records/>