The agreement, announced Wednesday, came after an extensive auction attracted interest from private equity investors and Universal Music Group, The New York Times reported. Sony-ATV is a partnership between Sony and the singer Michael Jackson.

Famous Music, Viacom's worldwide music publishing division, is a publishing catalog with rights to roughly 125,000 songs, ranging from "Moon River" to " Hips Don't Lie." Its stable of songwriters include Akron and Shakier. Viacom, which operates cable channels such as MTV and Nickelodeon, put it up for auction after concluding the catalog wasn't a core asset.

Famous' catalog also includes film scores, such as themes from "The Godfather" and "Beverly Hills Cop." Viacom took over the business as part of its acquisition of the Paramount movie studio.

Sony has been in the market for publishing catalogs, which generate income when their songs are used in television shows or films, played on the radio or recorded.