ACQUISITIONS: Sold: Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

The record industry heard it through the grapevine: Berry Gordy Jr., the former Detroit autoworker who founded Motown Records nearly 30 years ago, was shopping the company around. No one was dancing in the streets about that idea, since Motown ranks as one of the largest black-owned businesses in the U.S. But last week Gordy announced that he would sell it to the Los Angeles- based entertainment conglomerate MCA and a group of private investors for $61 million.

MCA will get the valuable catalog of hits by such artists as the Supremes, along with a roster of still working stars including...