EMI Group, home of The Beatles and Coldplay, has been sold in two parts for $4.1 billion.

Vivendi's Universal Music Group said yesterday that it has agreed to buy the recording division of EMI for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion).

The second part, the publishing division in charge of songwriting copyrights, was sold to Sony/ATV, for $2.2 billion, a source said.

The deal leaves Citigroup, EMI's owner, with liability for a pension plan worth about $600 million, a second source said.

Citigroup had put the iconic British music company up for sale after foreclosing on private equity firm Terra Firma in February.

Terra Firma bought EMI in 2007 in a £4.2bn acquisition financed with debt from US bank Citigroup, but it couldn't make enough money to keep up with the terms of its debt.