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Madonna has sold her stake in her Maverick label to the Warner Music Group (WMG), fuelling speculation that she is set to leave the struggling major. The news comes after a year of acrimony between Maverick - US home to The Prodigy and the label that launched Alanis Morissette - and WMG. In March this year, Maverick filed a $200 million lawsuit against WMG, citing breach of contract and illegal “profit taking”. WMG filed a counter-claim disputing the Maverick allegations, and saying that the subsidiary had lost them tens of millions of dollars.

Madonna and her business associate Ronnie Dashev’s stake in Maverick will now pass into the ownership and control of WMG, who had previously held 40 per cent of the company. Their fellow partner Guy Oseary will retain his shares, and take up an A&R role with the major.

Madonna’s lawyer Bert Fields has denied that the deal pre-empts a rumoured departure of the pop fishwife from her solo deal with WMG, the label that has been her home for 25 years. Fields told CBS: “It was an effective way of settling the lawsuit. It’s clean and equitable, and it doesn’t have anything to do with her record contract.”

However, this summer has seen growing speculation that Madonna wishes to escape her traditional deal with WMG in favour of a new arrangement focused around lucrative touring and merchandising. The rumoured deal would be worth $180 million, with Live Nation licensing future Madonna albums for around $30 million.

Key to negotiations would be Arthur Fogel, the Live Nation Global Touring Division chairman and promoter of Madonna’s last three world tours, which had a total gross of nearly $400 million. Madonna has frequently spoken of her admiration for Fogel, and in 2005 called him “a touring genius”.

Madonna is still signed up for two albums with WMG, one of which is scheduled for release in 2008 and is set to feature collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams and Timbaland. Her final release could be a career-spanning greatest hits compilation, after which she would be free to explore new avenues, although it is thought that WMG have made a counter offer.

Warner Music Group also refused to discuss any potential split with Madonna, instead choosing to focus on taking control of Maverick the retention of Guy Oseary as an A&R man. “This new joint venture agreement is clearly a win-win for both Warner Music Group and Maverick,” said WMG chairman Lyor Cohen.

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