[ad_1]
Hipgnosis, the acquisition-based music publishing company, set a price for a new stock issue to raise an unspecified amount that it set aside for new transactions within three months of raising the money.
The London-listed company has raised and spent £ 1.2bn on rights to hit songs since its inception in 2018 and has been on a buying spree, having struck deals with Neil Young, Jimmy Iovine, Shakira and Lindsey Buckingham so far this year.
Hipgnosis said Thursday that it also purchased the rights to music producer Bob Rock’s catalog, which includes 43 songs. He is best known as the producer of the eponymous Metallica album which brought thrash metal into the mainstream with singles including Enter Sandman and Sad but true. The songs on the album, released 30 years ago, have been played 7 billion times. The catalog also includes Mr. Rock’s work with Canadian crooner Michael Bublé.
The company said it would issue new shares at a price of 121 pence to fuel more buying, but declined to say how much it expects to increase.
He said he would spend the money he raised through the placement within three months of the admission of the new shares, after noting in December that there was a “pipeline” of acquisition opportunities. worth £ 1 billion.
The placement price is presented at a discount of 1 percent from its closing price on Wednesday. It reflects a decline in its net asset value of 6.78p since late September, which Hipgnosis attributed to a strengthening of the pound against the dollar between that date and January. He also said the price reflected unaudited accrued earnings and dividend payments for the past three months. Stocks traded roughly flat after the announcement at 122.2p.
The music company, founded by former Elton manager John Merck Mercuriadis, has been one of the most active buyers of song rights over the past year.
Bidders ranging from private equity funds, specialist buyers and music labels have been vying for the back catalogs of famous artists and songwriters as the rise of streaming has increased the value of music. older songs that are still listened to billions of times.
However, analysts at Stifel recently expressed concerns about how Hipgnosis values the songs it has acquired, as little financial information is provided when making deals due to nondisclosure agreements with artists.
Numis also said it was difficult to make a detailed financial assessment of Hipgnosis given the lack of financial details surrounding its acquisitions. “Hipgnosis has been highly acquisitive and has built a significant market position in the industry in a short period of time, and in the long term it will be critical for the fund to demonstrate how cash flow from acquisitions compares to modeled expectations”, the analysts wrote in a note.
Source link
