Blackstone-Hipgnosis

Blackstone: Winning a bidding war for a pure play music royalty leader

Blackstone-Hipgnosis

£1,584,000,000

Acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited


Exclusive Financial Advisor

MEDIA | APRIL 2024

In July 2024, Jefferies acted as Exclusive Financial Adviser to Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, on its $1.58 billion acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (Hipgnosis).

Blackstone, which already owned a controlling stake in Hipgnosis Management Company, sought Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited because of its pure-play exposure to music royalties and associated intellectual property rights. However, our client had competition.

The Apollo-backed independent music company Concord made an opening bid in mid-April to buy Hipgnosis for $1.4 billion, or $1.16 per share. Jefferies’ leading Global Media, Entertainment & Sports, and UK Investment Banking team advised Blackstone on several rounds of counteroffers, culminating in a winning bid of $1.31 per share in early June.

Hipgnosis’ acquisition by Blackstone became effective on July 29, 2024. The competing offers resulted in a final offer premium, with the company’s share price up 49.2% from its closing price of 71p per share on April 17, 2024. For Jefferies, this deal represented just one of 12 UK Public M&A transactions in which we were involved in 2024. These transactions included four externally managed investment funds with a combined deal value of over £13 billion.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. It seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which it invests. With more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management, Blackstone offers global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondary markets, and hedge funds.