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Parlophone is a record label, founded in Germany 1896 by the Carl Lindstrom Company. The ₤ trademark is not the British pound sign, but a German L, for Lindstrom. During the war, the Transoceanic Trading Company was set up in the Netherlands to look after its overseas assets. In 1923, the British branch of Parlophone was established, led by Oscar Preuss as A&R manager. Parlophone established a master leasing arrangement with co-owned United States based Okeh Records, making Parlophone a leading jazz label in the UK. In 1927, Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom acquired a controlling interest in the Carl Lindstrom Company and thereby in Parlophone. In 1931, Columbia merged with the Gramophone Company to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (EMI).