CONCORD OFFERS $1.4B FOR HIPGNOSIS

Concord has tendered a bid to purchase Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $1.4b, Reuters has reported. It’s up to Hipgnosis investment adviser HSM to allow the sale to go through.

Investors would receive $1.16 per share in cash should the deal be consummated, a premium of 32% over Wednesday's closing price of $.90.

Blackstone-backed HSM, at which Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis is chairman, holds a call option to purchase the fund's portfolio if the agreement between Hipgnosis and HSM is terminated. Hipgnosis Chairman Rob Naylor and the board hope to seal the deal with Concord at their general meeting on 6/10, but other bidders could also come in; insiders say this offer is more the beginning of a chapter than the end of the story.

Will Mercuriadis let HSF go? We rather doubt it.