NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Independent creative rights company, Concord, announced it has successfully raised $1.8 billion in bonds that are backed by its extensive catalog of sound recordings and songs.
According to Concord, the deal is the largest such asset-backed securitization offering in the music industry to date, both in terms of size, and the number of copyrighted assets backing the transaction.
The deal was orchestrated by the private equity firm Apollo through its Capital Solutions unit. According to Concord, Apollo structured the asset backed security and assembled a group of investors led by Apollo-managed funds.
The securitized asset facility, which has a five-year term, is backed by a catalogue of more than 1 million unique music assets, including more than 300 Grammy-winning songs, and more than 400 recordings that have been awarded gold, platinum or diamond certifications by the RIAA.
According to Concord, the catalogue is valued at more than $4 billion, which represents a 44% loan-to-value ratio for the offering, with the notes rated as A+ by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency.
Works in the securitization catalogue alone include songs and recordings by Phil Collins, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daft Punk, Miles Davis, Danny Elfman, Evanescence, The Fania All-Stars, John Fogerty, Genesis, Imagine Dragons, Isaac Hayes, James Taylor, Jewel, Joan Sebastian, Nine Inch Nails, Pink Floyd, Cyndi Lauper, Little Richard, Nikki Six, Otis Redding, R.E.M., Rodgers & Hammerstein, Pete Seeger, Taking Back Sunday, Ryan Tedder, The Traveling Wilburys, The Vince Guaraldi Trio, Hans Zimmer, among others.
“Concord has reached a new milestone in its own evolution and for the broader global industry in pricing the largest music ABS transaction in history,” said Bob Valentine, President of Concord. “I’m proud to help lead a company partnered with the astonishing depth and breadth of artistic talent that the works financed by this securitization represent. I’m also extraordinarily thankful that a significant number of blue-chip financial institutions have taken note of our success to date and chosen to participate in our future. As we continue to better position Concord as a bellwether in the industry, our focus remains the same: to elevate the voices of artists and musicians using the global, independent platform that we have been assembling for years. We are grateful to our financing partners at Apollo and JP Morgan who helped us develop a long-term capital solution that reflects the strength of the portfolio we have built to date and further validates our active management strategy.”
Concord plans to use the capital raised in the ABS issuance to fund growth in 2023 and beyond, the company said.
