Hot on the heels of its deal to acquire a catalog of 108 Timbaland copyrights, Hipgnosis Songs has raised another $295 million (£231 million) — putting its total to nearly $800 million to date.
According to the announcement, a total of 231,000,000 C Shares have been placed by Nplus1 Singer Advisory LLP and J.P. Morgan Securities plc (which conducts its UK investment banking activities as J.P. Morgan Cazenove) to new and existing investors at a price of 100 pence per C Share. Hipgnosis raised the money “by way of the Initial Placing, Offer for Subscription and Intermediaries Offer of C Shares.”
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of The Family (Music) Limited and Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, said: “I am delighted by the strong response to this issue both from our existing shareholders and new investors. Having raised £231 million today and over £625 million since our IPO a little over a year ago, Hipgnosis has been one of the biggest fund launches on the London market in recent times, with more capital raised over the last six months than any other London listed fund. This is a demonstration of the financial community recognizing the true value of music and proven songs.
“They are the currency that makes the world go round. They are predictable and reliable and they are better than gold or oil. We have lined up the finest available song catalogues and will be deploying immediately.”
In August, Hipgnosis raised $62.8 million — which, combined with the initial $265 million it raised before the company debuted on the London Stock Exchange last July, and an additional $185 million it raised earlier this year, put the company above $500 million raised to date.
Sources tell Variety that Hipgnosis is on the verge of making a major production rights deal — a trend that was profiled in Variety earlier this week — and Mercuriades said recently that the company is in the process of staking a foothold in the U.S. by acquiring a pair of Los Angeles-based publishing companies, although he declined to reveal which ones.
Founded by Mercuriades and Chic cofounder Nile Rodgers (pictured above), the company has acquired full or partial stakes in the catalogs of many songwriters who have enjoyed multiple global hits, including The Chainsmokers, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Poo Bear, the late Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards, Johnta Austin and Sean Garrett. Its holdings now include more than 6,000 songs worth more than $1.3 billion, it recently told investors.
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