'Beatles for sale' hopes

MUSIC groups are eagerly awaiting the sale of Michael Jackson's music assets which could be up for grabs as the star tries to clear his debts.

Jackson jointly owns the rights to more than 250 Lennon/McCartney compositions for the Beatles - including Yesterday - in a 50/50 venture with Sony.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is offering evens to punters wanting to bet that Jackson will sell his share of the songbook this year.

The short odds suggest that such a move is likely.

British music giant EMI is tipped as a possible bidder, though Sony may want to take full control.

The music catalogue is estimated to be worth £280m, though the price could be pushed even higher if a superrich Beatles fanatic enters the bidding.

Jackson makes money from the songs whenever they are played on the radio, or used in TV ads or films, so he may try to hold on to the catalogue if he can afford it.

However, it emerged at the singer's trial that he has loans of more than £100m secured against the music rights.

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If he had been convicted, a swift sale would have been likely. But now Jackson has more time to consider his options. He bought the publishing rights for £27m two decades ago when his career was on a high.