Concord is to acquire Round Hill Music Royalty Fund in a deal worth $468.8 million.
Round Hill trades on the London Stock Exchange and the board has agreed an offer of $1.15 per share – a premium of 67.3% based on the closing price on Thursday (September 7). The share price has recently been under pressure, consistently trading around 30% under its market value a year ago.
The publisher is being acquired by Concord Cadence, a subsidiary of independent publishing giant Concord. Concord recently secured access to hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for acquisitions.
Since its IPO in November 2020, Round Hill has established a portfolio of 51 catalogues, representing a collection of over 150,000 songs recorded by artists including Alice In Chains, Bush, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, The Supremes, Wilson Pickett and Whitesnake.
Robert Naylor, chairman of Round Hill Music, said: "The board is pleased to present this opportunity for liquidity at a premium to both the share price and the IPO price, as well as at a narrow discount to economic net asset value per share. The recommended offer represents excellent value for shareholders."
Bob Valentine (pictured), CEO of Concord, said: "Since its IPO, RHM has built an impressive portfolio of music rights which generate revenue across a variety of income streams and have demonstrated their ability to stand the test of time. As one of the world's leading music companies with a proven track record of strategic catalogue expansion, Concord has a global team of sync, licensing, marketing, copyright and royalty experts well positioned to maximise the value of this portfolio for all of the songwriters and artists within it. This offer enables RHM shareholders to realise their investment in the business at an attractive premium to the undisturbed share price, while the transaction provides an opportunity to create value for all stakeholders."
Speaking to Music Week earlier this year, Round Hill CEO and founder Josh Gruss was bullish about the company’s prospects. But he acknowledged that consolidation is a recurring aspect of the rights sector.
“A lot of our competition has access to billions of dollars, and Round Hill either has to continue to grow and raise money or it’s going to get gobbled up by one of the other guys,” he told Music Week. “It’s a game of dollars, scale and firepower, and you have to keep up with that.”
Alchemy Copyrights (trading as Concord) has spent $2 billion since 2015 including a big deal for Downtown’s publishing assets. It has completed more than 100 deals across recorded music, music publishing and theatricals, as it seeks to grow its business and scale and leverage its operations.
The company has signalled that more acquisitions are in the offing.
“Concord continues to be active in the market, looking at many potential transactions that meet its investment criteria,” said the announcement.
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