By Ian Walker


Hipgnosis Songs Fund, home to the catalogue of artists such as Neil Young, Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers, agreed to a $1.40 billion takeover by Apollo-backed music company Concord Chorus.

Under the deal, accepting shareholders of the London-listed song catalog fund will get $1.16 in cash for each share held, or about 93.2 pence, the companies said Thursday.

The offer price is a 32% premium to the company's closing price of 70.50 pence on Wednesday. Shares at 0815 GMT were up 22.10 pence, or 31%, at 92.60 pence. They are currently up 8.2% over the past 12 months.

Concord, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., is an active buyer of music rights, including the catalogues of Phil Collins and his Genesis bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. It is owned by Alchemy Copyrights.

Apollo Capital Management has agreed to provide financing for the acquisition in the form of debt capital, as well as a minority, indirect equity interest in the Concord-controlled Bidco.

Hipgnosis appointed advisors on Nov. 23 to conduct due diligence on its assets, and asked its investment advisor to propose alternative terms for its future arrangements.

The decision followed shareholders' rejection of a plan to sell 29 music catalogs to Hipgnosis Songs Capital and continuation of Hipgnosis as a closed-end investment company.

It most recently said that the company won't restart paying dividends after an independent report estimated that the value of the company's assets was lower than previous calculations.

The company's portfolio was most recently valued at $1.95 billion, down from $2.62 billion at Sept. 30.

The deal agreed Thursday includes an extra $25 million if Concord and the company's investment advisor--Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Song Management--reach agreement on the termination of the investment advisory agreement by a set deadline.

The Concord deal has the support of Hipgnosis shareholders owning 29.38 of its issued share capital.

"The acquisition represents an attractive opportunity for our shareholders to immediately realize their holding at a premium, mitigating the risks we see ahead to achieving a material improvement in the share price," Hipgnosis Chairman Robert Naylor said.

He added that the board believes Concord is the right owner to take on the Hipgnosis catalogue and manage it in the interests of composers and performers.


Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-18-24 0504ET