Rodgers and Hammerstein's catalogue expected to fetch $325m

London, Sept 4 : The descendants of Rodgers and Hammerstein are reportedly planning to sell their 200 million dollars catalogue of Broadway musical show tunes and standards to major music companies.

Music publishers including EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music and Warner are all looking over the catalogue, which includes songs from shows including 'The Sound of Music' and 'The King and I'.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's daughters are planning to sell the catalogue that includes over 3,000 songs.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organisation's porfolio includes work by more than 100 writers of hits such as Annie Get Your Gun, Joseph, Carousel, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Mikado.

The company is now hoping to fetch about 325 million dollars from the sale of the catalogue.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein catalogue has also attracted interest from hedge funds and private equity companies, which are attracted to song publishing assets as a source of regular cash flows through song licensing.

"This catalogue has not been exploited to its full potential," the Telegraph quoted one industry insider, as saying.

Publishing companies can make new revenue from catalog assets by licensing show tunes for use in a range of outlets such as advertising, video and television, in a process known as synchronization.

A Rodgers and Hammerstein spokesman said the company did not want to comment.

ANI