April - May 1969
The Beatles and ATV fight for the control of Northern Songs
Last updated on May 1, 2025
April - May 1969
Last updated on May 1, 2025
Single Mar 28, 1969 • "Goodbye / Sparrow" by Mary Hopkin released in the UK
Article April - May 1969 • The “Get Back” LP rumours • April to May 1969
Article April - May 1969 • The Beatles and ATV fight for the control of Northern Songs
Session Circa April - Early May 1969 • Recording "Charity Bubbles", "Goose"
Session Apr 03, 1969 • Mixing "Get Back", "Don't Let Me Down"
Next article Apr 06, 1969 • "Get Back" premiered on BBC Radio 1
Fall 1968 • Apple faces business problems
January 1969 • Apple's business problems become public knowledge
Jan 12, 1969 • The Beatles meet together to discuss their personal and business problems
Jan 27, 1969 • Allen Klein meets with John Lennon
Jan 28, 1969 • Allen Klein meets with The Beatles
Feb 01, 1969 • Allen Klein, John Eastman, and The Beatles discuss about NEMS
Feb 03, 1969 • Allen Klein appointed to look into The Beatles' affairs
January to February 17, 1969 • NEMS / Nemperor is sold to Triumph Investment Trust
February 21 to August 1969 • The Beatles fight for NEMS / Nemperor
March 1969 • Dick James sells his Northern Songs shares to ATV
Mar 21, 1969 • Allen Klein becomes business manager of Apple
April - May 1969 • The Beatles and ATV fight for the control of Northern Songs
September to November 1969 • ATV finalizes its acquisition of Northern Songs
Officially appears on Abbey Road
Jun 26, 1962
May 1964
Jan 27, 1965
The Beatles resign from The Beatles Ltd
Nov 19, 1966
Apr 19, 1967
The Beatles hire Alexis “Magic Alex” Mardas
Aug 24, 1967
ATV’s takeover offer was originally set to expire on May 2, but as the deadline approached, they had secured only 45% of Northern Songs shares — still short of a controlling stake. As a result, they announced an extension of their offer until May 15.
The month of May was marked by intense lobbying from all sides. The Consortium, an alliance of shareholders with varying interests and strategies, began to fragment. Some members leaned toward supporting The Beatles’ bid, while others saw greater promise in ATV’s offer.
By early May, certain members were growing tired of the situation and were looking for an easy solution. An all-out cash bid from ATV of, say, 165 pence a share would have swung it. ATV’s [chief financial officer] Jack Gill dug his heels in and flatly refused the Consortium’s proposal.
From “Apple to the Core: The Unmaking of the Beatles” by Peter McCabe and Robert D. Schonfeld (1972)
The Consortium subsequently entered into negotiations with Henry Ansbacher & Co. to explore the possibility of forming an alliance with The Beatles. In a meeting held without the presence of The Beatles or Allen Klein, Bruce Ormrod of Ansbacher’s crafted a proposal under which Northern Songs would be overseen by an independent management team, with David Platz as managing director. Crucially, The Beatles would retain no direct voting control under this arrangement — an effort to address shareholder concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
The proposal was then brought to The Beatles for approval, but John Lennon rejected it outright. As Ian Gordon, a representative of the Consortium, later explained:
Ormrod at this point was doing his level best to push this agreement through. It really came down to persuading John Lennon, who certainly dictated to the other two. Paul’s position was not clear. He denied that Klein represented him, but I think he would have gone along with this deal because we seemed to be on good terms with his father-in-law, so that was all right. Then Lennon became downright obstructive. He grudgingly said I could be a member of the board, but he did not see why the Beatles should bother to take over a company and then be told they could not do what they liked with it. He said he would rather let Grade have it than be dictated to like this. This is where we all came to a grinding halt.
Ian Gordon – From “Apple to the Core: The Unmaking of the Beatles” by Peter McCabe and Robert D. Schonfeld (1972)
During this meeting, John famously declared:
I’m not going to be fucked around by men in suits sitting on their fat arses in the City.
John Lennon – From “The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years” by Barry Miles
The agreement with The Beatles and the Consortium came so close to completion that a press release was prepared for distribution on May 14 — just one day before ATV’s offer was due to expire.
The Consortium turned back again to ATV for a final round of negotiations. Initially reluctant to reopen talks, ATV eventually engaged in direct discussions with each of the Consortium’s key members and clients. These efforts culminated in a last-minute agreement, signed just 15 minutes before The Beatles’ offer expired on May 19.
The deal established a 12-month alliance under which the Consortium pledged to support ATV’s control of Northern Songs. The agreement stated: “Members of the Consortium undertake that during the currency of this agreement they will exercise their votes so as to maintain on the board of Northern Songs sufficient nominees of ATV to give them a majority” — effectively giving ATV control of the company.
The Beatles, having failed in their bid, were left with a £5,000 bill from Henry Ansbacher & Co. for their advisory services.
Warner Bros. into Northern battle
Warner Bros-7 Arts, the film-to-records American conglomerate, has entered the battle for the control of Northern Songs.
And the American firm is seeking to acquire shares currently owned by the Astaire Group, which includes the Howard and Wyndham theatrical company, along with brokers W. I. Carr, Spencer Thornton and Slater Walker. This consortium controls 14 per cent of the capital.
This now makes Warner Bros. the fourth party to enter the Northern Songs bid arena. ATV controls 35 per cent — which was mainly bought from Northern Songs chairman and managing director Emmanuel Silver and Dick James. The Beatles themselves have a 30 per cent share, but Paul McCartney with his 15 per cent is reported to be in the balance with the future of his stake. Triumph Investments holds a crucial 5 per cent.
It is understood that Paul McCartney’s father-in-law, American theatrical lawyer Lee Eastman, is a major shareholder in the Astaire complex which is seeking to sell to Warners.
Ahmet Ertegun, boss of Atlantic — part of the Warner Bros. company — is believed to be flying to London later this week accompanied by other Warner Bros. executives to discuss the deal with the Astaire group.
From Record Retailer – May 7, 1969
WB/7, Thru Atlantic, Seeking 15% Interest In Northern Songs
NEW YORK — Warner Bros. Records has emerged as the latest contender for a share in Northern Songs, the Lennon-McCartney dominated music publishing catalog.
It’s understood that WB/7 is attempting to gain a 15% share of the company through Atlantic Records. At present. the Beatles themselves and Associated Television Corp. are embroiled in a struggle to obtain commanding shares in the publishing operation. The Beatles own about 33% of the stock, while ATV owns 35%.
However, Howard and Wyndham, a London broker and institutions that control about half of Northern’s shares were expected to meet with WB/7 execs in London late last week to
pursue the WB/7 interest in Northern Howard & Wyndham is believed to have a 4% stake in NS.WB/7’s official comment on the matter is that Atlantic had received an “inquiry” on the possibility of a deal. Ahmet Ertegun, president of Atlantic, said he had responded to this with a request for “facts concerning the status of Northern Songs in order that Atlantic Records might determine what its interest, if any, might be.”
The definite stock acquisition plans of the Beatles are to obtain another 20% interest in NS via a $5.10 tender offer in cash. The Beatles offer was in response to ATV’s tender offer of
$4.44 a share in cash and stock.Control of NS is greatly strengthened by the agreement of Lennon & McCartney to write at least six songs for the company each year for the next four years.
From CashBox Magazine – May 17, 1969
Beatles’ man for new board of Northern
ATV plans to invite a nominee of the Beatles to join the new board of Northern Songs following the last-minute support by the third party consortium of stockbrokers, giving ATV control of the company on Monday night. And Ian Gordon, managing director of Constellation Investments, will represent the city group on the Northern Songs board.
Two ATV men will complete the four-strong board. However it is uncertain who these two members will be, probably Sir Lew Grade or ATV’s financial director Jack Gill. There is also a possibility that Dick James will be named to the board.
The Beatles’ offer closed on Monday with a 30 per cent share. ATV obtained acceptances for 47 per cent until an agreement was made for the vital 14 per cent put together by the city brokers.
From Record Retailer – May 21, 1969
The battle for ownership of Northern Songs, publishers of Beatledom, has assumed further complex intricacies. The latest development indicates a possible bid from Warner Brothers-Seven Arts, following a meeting between Ahmet Ertegun, president of the Warner subsidiary Atlantic Records, and Peter Donald, chairman of Howard and Wyndham, the theater group. This company, together with other various stockbrokers and institutions, controls a 15% block of Northern shares, a possible doorway for WB through which it could storm the Northern citadel. Associated TeleVision, the original bidders, hold 35% and is claiming favorable response to its offer that brings it near the 50% mark, The Beatles, anxious to obtain control of their publishing outlet, have just over 30%, and are seeking a further 20%. The Triumph Investment Trust with 4.5% is fence sitting at present. ATV has stated that if it fails to win control acceptances will be returned and it will accept the Beatle offer for two-sevenths of its shares and sell the remainder. The WB strategy, assuming it acquired the 15% of Northern stock held by the Howard and Wyndham grouping, could proceed to ultimate control of Northern by a deal with ATV or the Beatles or both David Platz of Essex Music. who has said that he will accept an invitation to join the Northern board of directors if the Beatle bid is successful, has denied entertainment industry estimates that his projected association with Northern and Apple could be worth €500,000 annually to Essex. Meanwhile, the Beatles are reported to have rescued Britain’s leading underground weekly newspaper by providing its printers with a £2,000 indemnity against any possible legal action.
From CashBox Magazine – May 24, 1969
Pye’s Benjamin for Northern’s new board
Louis Benjamin, managing director of Pye Records, is one of ATV’s two initial nominations for the new board of Northern Songs. The other is ATV’s finance director Jack Gill.
Benjamin, who already holds overall responsibility for Pye’s publishing interests, will be concerned with integrating where possible the Northern catalogue with ATV’s activities in films, TV and records.
Already nominated for the board are Dick James and Emanuel Silver together with Ian Gordon, managing director of Constellation Investments.
Nominations for three other seats remain to be made. Two are available to ATV and one is expected from Apple, which will probably put forward Essex Music chief David Platz.
A further restructuring of the executive echelon of Apple Corps puts Peter Brown in charge of company administration. Managing director Neil Aspinall will now operate on a closer personal basis with the Beatles and also become involved in record production.
George Harrison, who didn’t renew his writing contract with Northern, has formed his own publishing company, Sing Song Music. Sing Song has as its first copyright, Old Brown Shoe written by Harrison, which is on the flipside of the new Beatles’ single, Ballad of John and Yoko.
From Record Retailer – May 28, 1969
See ATV Victory In Northern Bid
NEW YORK — Associated Television has apparently won its bid to gain control of Northern Songs. the company populated by the Lennon-McCartney catalog.
For a while last week it seemed that ATV had failed to achieve victory, since its tender offer to shareholders reached deadline on Friday, May 16, with no a appreciable increase in its 36% interest. The Beatles themselves failed to gain more than 3% more of their 30% holdings at their tender offer deadline last Monday (19).
However, ATV has evidently obtained at least a 50% share in the music publisher via Howard & Wyndham theatre chain and a group of institutional investors, according to Lew Grade, ATV head. It’s understood that the Beatles have been offered a seat on the Northern board of directors. The Beatles’ Lennon-McCartney have a writers contract with Northern that runs until 1973, with four songs a year expected of the duo.
From CashBox Magazine – May 31, 1969
Great Britain
The lengthy and involved takeover tussle for Northern Songs ended May 19th with total victory denied to the two protagonists, Associated TeleVision and the Beatles. ATV finished with 36% of Northern stock, and the Beatles lagged behind at 30.3%. However, ATV has formed an alliance with a consortium of brokers representing amongst other the Howard and Wyndham theater group with a 15% holding, and the new allies simultaneously decided not to accept the Beatles’ partial 42 shillings and six-pence cash bid. Six new members will now join the Northern Songs board. Four will represent ATV, one the consortium and one will be nominated by the Beatles. The latter director is thought likely to be David Platz, although the Essex Music chief has said he would only join the Northern board if the Beatles won control. The Beatles have named Allen Klein as their business manager under a one-year contract of undisclosed terms, thereby filling a vacancy that has existed since the death of Brian Epstein. Klein has already been investigating and reorganising the group’s Apple Corps operation.
The Beatles are claiming in the High Court that more than £900,000 in a bank account should be paid to them. The money comprises record royalties paid into the account by EMI Records, and the Beatles’ claim is being disputed by Nemperor Holdings and the Triumph Investment Trust. EMI had been a party to the proceedings, but the action against that company has been stayed. The case will be heard this month.
From CashBox Magazine – June 7, 1969
On May 23, the new board of Northern Songs was announced. Dick James retained his position as managing director, while Charles Silver continued as chairman. Although The Beatles were invited to nominate a representative to the board, they declined the offer.
The Northern Songs saga was far from over. Throughout the summer and into the autumn of 1969, both ATV and The Beatles continued to explore various strategies to secure a majority stake — over 50%—in the company.
The troubled waters around Northern Songs are subsiding as ATV and the consortium that joined with it to defeat the bid by the Beatles select Northern’s new board of six directors under the chairmanship of Northern managing director Dick James. ATV has nominated its finance director Jack Gill and Louis Benjamin, managing director of its subsidiary Pye Records, the consortium has named Ian Gordon of Constellation Investments, and Northern chairman Emanuel Silver is another director. No Beatle nomination has yet come forth from Apple, but David Platz of Essex Music is still the prime favorite to represent the foursome in what is still an inconclusive and uneasy situation.
From CashBox Magazine – June 14, 1969
The Northern Songs saga prompted Paul to write the song “You Never Give Me Your Money“, released on the album “Abbey Road“.
Allen Klein and Dick James, who sold our publishing in Northern Songs without giving us a chance to buy the company, were both hanging around in the background of this song. All the people who had screwed us or were still trying to screw us. It’s fascinating how directly we acknowledged this in the song. We’d cottoned on to them, and they must have cottoned on to the fact that we’d cottoned on. We couldn’t have been more direct about it.
Paul McCartney – From “The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present“, 2021
The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years
With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group.
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