Michael Jackson Selling Publishing Rights To Avoid Bankruptcy

Michael Jackson avoided prison on child molestation charges last June, and now he's apparently evaded having to file for bankruptcy.

The troubled singer has restructured his finances and, according to the New York Times, will sell half of his share of the 4,000-song Sony/ATV music publishing catalogue — which includes valuable songs from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison and many others — to Sony Corp.

Jackson had taken out a $270-million U.S. loan from Bank Of America to fund his extravagant lifestyle, and the bank later sold the loan to Fortress Investment Group. The loan became due late last year and Fortress had threatened to seize Jackson's assets to cover his unpaid debts.

According to the Times' unnamed sources, the proceeds from Jackson's sale of 25 per cent of the publishing catalogue will go towards paying off his debt to Fortress, which would, in turn, offer him a lower interest rate on the loan. The former "King Of Pop" purchased half of the Sony/ATV catalogue in 1985 for $47.5 million, and it's now estimated to be worth $1 billion.

Sony has wanted to acquire the catalogue from Jackson for some time and didn't want him to declare bankruptcy, which likely would have resulted in it going up for sale to the highest bidder.

Jackson has been spending a lot of time in Bahrain since his acquittal last year and closed his Neverland Ranch in California last month.