Ripplewood Holdings is selling its 25.5% stake in Tokyo-based label Columbia Music Entertainment for $27 million to Japanese mobile-content developer Faith.

The announcement was made by RHJ International, Ripplewood’s Belgium-based arm, on Jan. 21.

The move does not come as a surprise, as Ripplewood was believed to be frustrated by the slow pace of CME’s restructuring efforts. Ripplewood bought a controlling interest in CME from Japanese electronics company Hitachi in May 2001, and CME then cut its staff by 25% and its artist roster by 40%.

Faith will acquire an additional 5.9 percent of Columbia from a Ripplewood-related company.

Local press reports say CME Chairman Strauss Zelnick, who was brought in by Ripplewood to oversee the money-losing label's restructuring, will step down at the firm's extraordinary shareholders meeting April 6, while Faith President Hajime Hirasawa will be e named chairman without the right to represent the company. Yasuharu Hara is expected to stay on as CME’s president.

CME, previously known as Nippon Columbia, was established in 1910, making it Japan’s oldest record company. Japan is the only territory where Sony does not have rights to the “Columbia” name.