Hipgnosis Songs Fund has had a particularly eventful couple of months.
In August the company, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, hit a major milestone in its native UK with its market cap soaring above GBP £1 billion for the first time.
Earlier this month, UK-based Hipgnosis, founded by CEO Merck Mercuriadis, announced the double hire of respected music industry execs Ted Cockle and Amy Thomson, plus the acquisition of Los Angeles-based Big Deal Music Group.
There’s also been a run of acquisitions involving the catalogs of Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Kanye West and Jay-Z producer No I.D., Wu Tang Clan’s Robert ‘RZA’ Diggs, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, and Pretenders star Chrissie Hynde.
Now more big news: this week, Hipgnosis has announced that it intends to raise up to £250 million ($318m) by way of a placing a tranche of new Ordinary Shares on the market, at a price of 116 pence ($2.94) per share.
According to the announcement filed on the London Stock Exchange on Monday (September 21), Hipgnosis plans to use the proceeds to buy approximately 50 catalogs for which its investment advisor The Family (Music) Limited has already “identified and secured exclusivity on”.
Included in those catalogs “are some of the most influential hit songs of each of the past six decades”.
The announcement adds that “the Investment Adviser is also in discussions on further catalogues with an aggregate consideration of more than £1 billion which could be acquired within 3 months should the acquisition of any of the Pipeline Catalogues not proceed”.
“I would like to thank all the songwriters, artists and producers that have made us first choice to look after your incomparable legacies.”
Merck Mercuriadis, Hipgnosis
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and The Family (Music) Limited, said: “We have made a significant impact on the songwriting community over the last two plus years and the overwhelming love and support we have from these great creators has led to further opportunities on evergreen songs and catalogues.
“I would like to thank all the songwriters, artists and producers that have made us first choice to look after your incomparable legacies.”Music Business Worldwide
