Lloyd Webber Bids for the Great American Songbook???

Andrew Lloyd Webber is rumoured to be planning the acquisition of one of the most valuable back-catalogues in musical theatre, a bid which, if successful, would see him become one of the most important figures in music.

According to today’s Evening Standard, a source close to the composer revealed recently that he is “putting together a bid” for the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organisation, whose current guardians, Mary Rodgers Guettel and Alice Hammerstein Mathias (the duo’s elderly daughters), are looking for a buyer.

The organisation owns the rights to 100 songwriters including the legendary Irving Berlin, composer of over 3000 songs including White Christmas and the musical Annie Get Your Gun. It also owns the rights to Lloyd Webber’s own musicals in America – a fact that may help his chances of completing a deal, as could his recent association with Rodgers and Hammerstein after his successful West End revival of The Sound of Music.

The Organisation is thought to be hoping for a bid of over £140 million, with Lloyd Webber likely to face competition from companies including music giants EMI, Sony BMG, Disney, Warner and Universal. And, according to the New York Post, Lloyd Webber’s London-based rivals, the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) may also table a bid.