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By Vanessa Mock

BRUSSELS--Universal Music Group Inc. was granted more time to respond to concerns from European Union regulators over the company's proposed acquisition of EMI Group Ltd.'s recording arm and now is expected to reply by Thursday night, people close to the matter said Wednesday.

The company's request for an extension from a Tuesday deadline signaled that Universal was busy responding to a raft of complaints by antitrust regulators, set out in a document nearly 200 pages long.

Universal, which is owned by the France's Vivendi SA, was expected to submit its reply in time for the late-Thursday deadline, a person with close knowledge of the matter said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has been examining the $1.9 billion deal since February amid concerns that it would create a music behemoth almost twice the size of its nearest competitors in Europe. Both companies boast a string of stars, with Universal's roster including Lady Gaga, Robbie Williams and the Black Eyed Peas, and EMI's including Coldplay and the Beatles.

The commission raised fears about the substantial market power the new entity would have in physical and digital music sales. The commission also has questioned Universal's assertions that its bargaining clout with licensees has been eroded by the boom in illegal music downloads and by online services such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes and Amazon.com Inc. The commission also disputed Universal's calculations of its market share.

"It's not surprising they have sought an extension, as the statement of objections is very long and it demolishes most, if not all, of Universal's work in how to proceed," a person familiar with the matter said.

Universal is eager to resolve the matter soon. The company agreed to pay EMI's owner, Citigroup Inc., the bulk of the purchase price by Sept. 10, regardless of whether the deal gets the green light. The commission shuts down for most of August, though it has committed to delivering its verdict in September. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also is reviewing the deal.

People who have seen the statement of objections said the commission pointed to antitrust concerns expressed by more than 20 EU countries as well as Norway and Iceland, which have access to the bloc.

"There are worries in all the big countries in the EU, particularly when it comes to the digital area," another person said. Universal and EMI have a combined 40% of the European market in digital music distributed by the two main online platforms, iTunes and Spotify.

People close to the case have said Universal is likely to request an oral hearing and that plans are afoot to hold a closed-door hearing within the next 10 days.

The company would then have until July 18 to recommend concessions, though that deadline could be extended to Aug. 1.

"Universal would have to make very substantial concessions to get this through," one of the people with close knowledge of the matter said. "Most probably, they would have to sell off individual companies, as it can be hard to sell individual labels."

That cast doubt over media reports that Universal would seek to offer so-called behavioral remedies, which are measures to ensure it wouldn't abuse its market dominance with other players in the sector. People close to the matter said the commission likely will be reluctant to go down that route as such measures would be hard to police and unlikely to go far enough.

A third person with close knowledge of the matter said Universal remained eager to move ahead with the deal, even though the resignation last week of Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy raised questions over whether the new management would be as keen.