Blackstone and Hipgnosis Song Management launch $1 billion partnership to invest in songs, recorded music, music IP and royalties
12 Ottobre 2021 - 1:00PM
Business Wire
Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Hipgnosis Song Management Ltd (“HSM”)
today announce a new partnership, backed by funds managed by
Blackstone, which will initially deliver c.$1 billion to acquire
music rights and manage catalogues.
Hipgnosis Song Management, founded by Merck Mercuriadis and
formerly known as The Family (Music) Ltd, is one of the industry’s
leading advisory firms focused on music assets and is investment
advisor to Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd (LSE: SONG), the largest
UK-listed investor in music catalogues and royalties with gross
assets of c.$2.2 billion.
Merck Mercuriadis, CEO of Hipgnosis Song Management,
said: “Hipgnosis Song Management has firmly established songs
as an asset class. This new partnership with Blackstone will
deliver financial strength to invest in proven songs as well as
grow our song management team and bring additional sophistication
to HSM, enabling us to create greater value to our stakeholders
including our songwriters and shareholders in SONG. Given the
strength of our pipeline, we see the initial commitment as just the
start of a long-term partnership between Blackstone and Hipgnosis
that will also include co-investment with SONG.”
Qasim Abbas, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Tactical
Opportunities, said: “This partnership underscores the long
term, sustainable value we see in creative content across the wider
entertainment industry, building on Merck’s vision and dynamism.
The music industry has been at the forefront of the fast-growing
streaming economy and is unlocking new ways of consuming content.
We look forward to working with Merck and his team to continue
their exciting journey and safeguard the legacy of the songwriters
that entrust us with their content.”
As part of the partnership, Blackstone will take an ownership
stake in HSM and will support the expansion of its infrastructure
and business functions, including the development of new song
management expertise, data science capabilities and technology
solutions. This should allow HSM to further enhance the value of
the rights it purchases, working in close collaboration with
songwriters, artists and producers.
SONG is expected to benefit from Blackstone’s investment in
HSM’s management capabilities and will have the right to co-invest
in future catalogue acquisitions alongside the new Blackstone–HSM
partnership.
Andrew Sutch, Chairman of SONG said: “Our Investment
Adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management’s, new partnership with
Blackstone highlights how successfully Merck has established songs
and music rights as an asset class since founding and listing SONG
three years ago. This new partnership will provide new
co-investment opportunities for SONG, and we expect that continued
investment in Hipgnosis Song Management will enhance returns for
our investors.”
Blackstone was advised on the transaction by Goldman Sachs, FTI,
Kirkland & Ellis and Deloitte. Hipgnosis Song Management was
advised by RBC, Capstan Capital Partners and Stephenson
Harwood.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We
seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our
investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which
we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible
capital to help companies solve problems. Our $684 billion in
assets under management include investment vehicles focused on
private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences,
growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real
assets, and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further
information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone
on Twitter@Blackstone.
About Hipgnosis Song Management Ltd
Hipgnosis Song Management Ltd, formerly The Family (Music) Ltd
is the Investment Advisor for Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd (SONG). Both
were founded by Merck Mercuriadis, former manager of globally
successful recording artists, such as Elton John, Guns N' Roses,
Morrissey, Iron Maiden and Beyoncé, and hit songwriters such as
Diane Warren, Justin Tranter and The-Dream. The Investment Adviser
has assembled an Advisory Board of highly successful music industry
experts which include award winning members of the artist,
songwriter, publishing, legal, financial, recorded music and music
management communities, all with in-depth knowledge of music
publishing. Members of Hipgnosis Song Management Ltd Advisory Board
include Nile Rodgers, The-Dream, Giorgio Tuinfort, Starrah, David
A. Stewart, Poo Bear, Bill Leibowitz, Ian Montone and Rodney
Jerkins.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211012005592/en/
Media: Blackstone Giles Croot +44 7881 749 614
giles.croot@blackstone.com Felix Lettau +44 7587 020 020
felix.lettau@blackstone.com Teneo Nick Claydon +44 7974 982
547 nick.claydon@teneo.com Tim Burt +44 7583 413 254
tim.burt@teneo.com
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