{"id":55980,"date":"2022-08-25T12:03:59","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/another-brick-in-the-wall-street-as-blackstone-seeks-pink-floyd-catalog\/"},"modified":"2022-08-25T12:03:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:03:59","slug":"another-brick-in-the-wall-street-as-blackstone-seeks-pink-floyd-catalog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/another-brick-in-the-wall-street-as-blackstone-seeks-pink-floyd-catalog\/","title":{"rendered":"Another brick in the Wall Street as Blackstone seeks Pink Floyd catalog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US private equity group Blackstone is vying to buy Pink Floyd’s back catalog, a big bet on music rights that could value the band’s songs at almost half a billion dollars. <\/p>\n

The buyout group would strike the deal through Hipgnosis Song Management, the company founded by Elton John’s former manager Merck Mercuriadis in which Blackstone owns a majority stake, according to corporate filings. <\/p>\n

A Pink Floyd deal would burnish Blackstone’s credentials as a main player in the music rights business. The band is one of the best-selling groups of all time and its catalog is sought after, with Sony Music, Warner Music, KKR-backed BMG and Oaktree-funded Primary Wave also bidding, five people with knowledge of the matter said.<\/p>\n

Blackstone set up Hipgnosis Songs Capital, a billion-dollar fund, after buying HSM last year. HSC has bought $341mn of back catalogs from artists including Leonard Cohen, Justin Timberlake, Nile Rodgers, Nelly Furtado and country singer Kenny Chesney. <\/p>\n

The Pink Floyd deal could be worth more than all HSC’s current holdings combined, underscoring its seriousness about the industry despite rising interest rates making such deals less attractive.<\/p>\n

Artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have sold their songbooks to music companies for hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, while private equity firms piled into the market in search of steady returns during the long period of low interest rates. <\/p>\n

The catalog of the UK band spans hits such as \u201cMoney\u201d, \u201cComfortably Numb\u201d and \u201cAnother Brick in the Wall\u201d. A deal could be agreed within a few weeks, the people added.<\/p>\n

Pink Floyd is selling both the copyrights to its songs and its recordings, or master copies, making its catalog one of the most valuable to come to the market. It is seeking \u00a3400mn or more for these copyrights. <\/p>\n

A weaker sterling over the past few months has meant that the price tag of the deal has become cheaper in dollar terms for the American bidders.<\/p>\n