Breaking news, according to Billboard – IODA and The Orchard, the two largest digital aggregators in the United States, are merging. It also appears as though Sony Music will be a key investor in the new partnership.

A snippet of the original article:

As part of the deal, Sony, which already owns 51% of IODA, would have to accelerate the acquisition of the remainder of that company so that it can complete the deal with the Orchard, sources suggest. Sony will own at least 50% of the merged company, the sources add. As a result of the deal, the merged company will have revenues of about $130 million, according to sources.

This deal comes in the wake of the merger between INgrooves and Fontana, which was announced last week. In that deal, Shamrock Capital acquired Fontana from the Universal Music Group and merged it with INgrooves, leaving the major as a minority investor with a 15%-20% stake in the combined entity.

Read the full story here.