Simon Cowell has bought out Sony Music from from a joint 15-year partnership.

This means that Simon is now taking back full control of global television show franchises such as Got Talent and The X Factor.

The amount Simon paid to Sony is unspecified, however the sum allows him to take full ownership of the previous global joint venture that owns the television formats.

Going forward, this will give the artists appearing on the shows more flexibility to sign record deals with other labels. As part of the deal Sony will retain the music assets in the joint venture, which it wholly owned. This includes a library of music from artists including One Direction, Leona Lewis and Little Mix.

Simon has had a long relationship with Sony and paid tribute to them for backing his television ventures and helping so many artists to commercial success. “I won’t say this was an easy decision to make, however sometimes you have to personally support something you are so passionate about,” he said.

Simon has exercised an option to buy and will now transfer the television rights to Syco Entertainment.

Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group, said that “At this particular contractual crossroads” it was “simply the right thing” for Mr Cowell to take control of the television assets. “We are proud to continue to represent the Syco music catalogue and its artists,” he said.

Sony first relationship with Simon was in 2005, buying a share of Syco Music.

They then launched a joint venture with him four years later that covered the hit television shows he had developed. Artists from the shows were exclusively signed to Sony labels such as Syco Music, Epic Records and Columbia.

Artists such as Olly Murs, JLS and Fifth Harmony who were all runners up on various formats of Simon Cowell‘s shows, found huge success on subsidiary Sony Labels.

Find more information about Syco Entertainment HERE