Hipgnosis faces $1.4bn takeover by Concord Chorus

(Sharecast News) - Music rights investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund said it had agreed a $1.4bn takeover by Concord Chorus a US music and theatrical rights firm.

Hipgnosis Songs investors will get $1.16 a share in cash, a 32% premium based on current exchange rates.

Concord is indirectly controlled by Alchemy Copyrights, which acquired music copyright-focused investment firm Round Hill Music Royalty Fund last year for $469m.

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

"At the same time, the board is confident that Concord, one of the world's leading independent music companies, is the right owner to take on the Hipgnosis catalogue and manage it in the interests of composers and performers."

"We would now encourage Hipgnosis Song Management, the company's investment adviser and Blackstone, which is HSM's majority owner, through funds they manage and/or advise, to agree an orderly termination of the Investment Advisory Agreement."

"This would enable the payment of a larger consideration under the agreed transaction with Concord and bring to an end a period of uncertainty for all Hipgnosis stakeholders," he added, referring to a row between the fund and its advisors over portfolio valuations.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com