Blackstone saw Concord's latest offer of $1.25 a share to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund and raised the nickel to $1.30 on Monday, potentially putting a cap on a back-and-forth bidding war for the assets. details of the music rights company.
In a joint statement, HSF and Blackstone said the boards of directors of both companies approved a revised acquisition of Hipgnosis' assets in cash valued at nearly $1.6 billion, from Concord's most recent offer that valued the company to about $1.51 billion.
The new price reflects a 48.1% premium to HSF's closing share price on April 17, the day before Concord's initial offer was made public. Any offer will require the support of investors representing at least 75% of the company's public shares at a court hearing expected to take place on June 10. Until that date, additional new offers may be submitted.
Blackstone's official offer comes a week after the private equity giant made a “potential offer” of $1.24 per share, or about $1.5 billion, on April 22. HSF's board signaled that it would support this bid if it became official, however two days later (April 24) Concord raised its bid by one penny and the board reversed itself and unanimously recommended that shareholders approve the Concord bid.
With Blackstone raising the offer by $0.05, the board now says that “after careful consideration” the revised offer “represents a superior offer to Hipgnosis shareholders” compared to Concord — and will now recommend to shareholders to have access to the new terms.
“The Board is pleased to recommend it unanimously [offer] for Hipgnosis from Blackstone,” said the Hipgnosis chair Robert Naylor. “Since we began our strategic review, we have clearly focused on looking at all options to deliver shareholder value. We are excited that, following the competing interests in acquiring Hipgnosis, our investors now have the opportunity to immediately realize their participation at an increased premium.”
The London-listed fund has rights to songs by Neil Young, Journey, Lindsey Buckingham, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Blondie and other artists.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund's share price fell 6.75% on the news, from $1.35 on Friday, when Concord's bid increase pushed the stock to a 52-week high of $1.26 by 9am. on Monday New York time.
Blackstone is also the majority owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund's investment adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), and funds Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC), a private music rights fund that operates with HSM and has its own music rights portfolio by stars like Justin Bieber and Kenny Chesney.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/business-news/hipgnosis-board-blackstone-acquisition-bid-over-concord-1235668643/