Mathew Knowles, father of R&B singer Beyonce, said his management firm Music World Entertainment and record label Music World Music Record Label had severed all ties with troubled music group Sanctuary. Knowles said in a statement on Friday the “parties have come to a mutual agreement to part ways,” and that he would regain ownership of both companies. In January, Sanctuary, the world’s biggest independent music label and home to Elton John, announced a 110-million-pound equity fund-raising rescue deal to save it from losses stemming from Urban Records, a company it set up with Knowles in September 2003. Sanctuary said Urban Records would release no more records after contributing to a group loss in 2005 of 143 million pounds. Sanctuary has been cutting jobs and non-core businesses and last year issued a string of profit warnings on the back of troubles at Urban Records. Sanctuary shares have been trading below 1 penny in recent months, at 1540 (British time) they stood at 0.33p valuing the company at around 1.224 million pounds.

- Reuters UK