Hipgnosis, the venture capital firm that in recent years acquired the catalogs of Leonard Cohen, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others, has sold its assets to Blackstone for $1.6 billion. The New York Times References. Merck CEO and co-founder Mercuriadis is leaving the company.
The Blackstone acquisition follows a bidding war that Concord nearly won in April when it struck a tentative deal with Hipgnosis Songs Fund to buy its assets for $1.4 billion. But Blackstone's recent offer—an offer of $1.31 per share for Hipgnosis—was ultimately victorious. The Hipgnosis Songs Fund board voted Monday (July 8) to accept Blackstone's offer.
In 2021, Blackstone invested $1 billion in Hipgnosis Song Management, investment adviser to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which operated as an investment trust. The hefty investment saw Blackstone take majority control of Hipgnosis Song Management.
Mercouriadis, who ran Hipgnosis Song Management, was accused of overpaying for catalog acquisitions in a third-party financial review published earlier this year.
