Alternative investment management company Blackstone has reached an agreement to acquire Hipgnosis Songs, a song management fund that owns the music catalog rights of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Blondie, and a number of other music acts.
Hipgnosis Songs’ board previously recommended a takeover bid from music company Concord Music, which valued the company at $1.4 billion. This prompted Blackstone to come back with an improved offer of $1.30 per share and close to $1.6 billion in total, which is now expected to be accepted by the shareholders.
Hipgnosis Songs was founded in 2018 by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis and record producer and The Chic frontman Nile Rodgers. The company heavily invested in purchasing music rights for songs from a wide range of artists, with the goal of acquiring a steady stream of revenue and becoming attractive to investors.
However, the company’s future looked murky in recent times due to a number of executive changes and rising interest rates that brought down the value of its assets and plummeted Hipgnosis Songs shares.
“The breadth of the Blackstone platform, combined with our operational expertise, will support and enhance the value of the acquired rights,” said Qasim Abbas, a senior managing director at Blackstone, announcing the purchashe agreement for Hipgnosis Songs.