HIPGNOSIS BOARD APPROVES UPPED BLACKSTONE BID

The contentious Hipgnosis Songs Fund saga moved closer to a mutually satisfying resolution after Blackstone upped its bid to $1.57b and the HSF board agreed to the acquisition.

Blackstone’s bid—which valued HSF at $1.30 per share, trumped Concord’s $1.25-per-share offer, made on 4/24.

“The Board is pleased to unanimously recommend this [offer] for Hipgnosis from Blackstone,” said Hipgnosis Chairman Robert Naylor. “Since we started our strategic review, we have been clearly focused on looking at all the options to deliver shareholder value. We are delighted that, following competitive interests in acquiring Hipgnosis, our investors now have a chance to immediately realize their holding at an increased premium.”

Blackstone is a majority shareholder in the Merck Mercuriadis-led Hipgnosis Songs Management, which holds a call option to make a higher offer for HSF’s portfolio if its advisory agreement were to be terminated.

“The Bidco [aka Blackstone] board believes that the acquisition provides an exciting path forward to continue building on Blackstone’s existing interests and to utilize Blackstone’s expertise in this space to further develop the potential of Hipgnosis’ portfolio,” the company said in announcing the bid.

Blackstone also said that it may sell or restructure Hipgnosis Songs Group LLC, Hipgnosis’ U.S. songs-admin business, previously known as Big Deal Music, within six to nine months following the HSF acquisition. Big Deal was acquired by HSF in September 2020.

Hipgnosis shares, which have rallied since the takeover interest, rose 2.7% to £1.06 ($1.33) in early trading.