London-based music publisher, digital distributor and rights acquirer One Media IP, Group has “conditionally” raised £6.04 million (approximately $7.99m) and plans to use the cash “to fund the acquisition of exclusive rights”.
The company plans to buy copyrights in performance and writers shares, primarily through its Harmony iP asset release program.
The funds are being raised through the conditional issue of 86.3m Placing Shares to new and existing institutional and other investors at 7 pence (£0.7) per Placing Share, which equates to a 3.4 % discount to the company’s closing mid-market price of 7.25 pence on Monday (August 17).
One Media is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc, under the symbol ‘OMIP’.
The aim of One Media’s Harmony IP is to exchange a portion of music rights income in return for a lump sum payment.
The company stated in its interim financial results for the six-month period ended April 30, 2020 (filed on June 29), that it was making “encouraging progress” towards launching Harmony IP, which it describes as a “unique intellectual property (IP) equity release program”.
One Media IP reported that the program has received “good levels of early interest from artists” and the company is in the process of moving ahead with these discussions.
Speaking with investment news site Proactive today, One Media CEO Michael Infante (pictured) said that the company is looking to “deploy the cash over the next months”.
“We have a pipeline, so maybe faster, depending on negotiations,” he added.
According to the company’s filing for the six-month period ended April 30, 2020, its revenue increased by 28% to £2.03 million ($2.5m) while its operating profit grew 98% to £563,257 ($692,344).
EBITDA for the period increased 93% to £757,678 ($931,322) and its cash balances at the end of the period stood at £1.07m ($1.3m).
Of note, according to CEO Michael Infante, the company saw “an uplift in streaming of children’s, classical and ambient music” throughout the Coronavirus crisis.
MBW understands that as of June 30, the company had spent $12m on acquisitions and is looking to double or treble that figure in the short term.
“The level of demand for the Placing reflects the confidence existing and incoming investors have in One Media’s Harmony iP model and the ongoing strategy to capitalise on a market benefiting from significant tailwinds.”
Michael Infante, One Media
One Media CEO, Michael Infante, said: “To have such a heavily oversubscribed fundraising, which also brings a significant number of new high-quality investors onto the register, is extremely pleasing.
“The level of demand for the Placing reflects the confidence existing and incoming investors have in One Media’s Harmony iP model and the ongoing strategy to capitalise on a market benefiting from significant tailwinds.
“During the recent months the health and safety of our staff and stakeholders has been of paramount importance.
“The entire One Media team has been working harder than ever on a remote basis and I would like to thank everyone for their exceptional work throughout. The outlook is certainly exciting and we are looking forward to taking the business to the next level.”Music Business Worldwide