Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has raised $282 million (£212m) in its IPO.
It gives the independent publisher a vast war chest of funds to draw on for planned catalogue acquisitions.
Applications have been received under the issue for 282,000,000 ordinary shares priced $1. Of these, 272,348,925 ordinary shares were issued under the placing and 9,651,075 ordinary shares were issued under the offer for subscription.
All investor applications were met in full. The $282m raised is below the initial issue target of a $375m, with 375m shares issued at $1 each.
The shares are set to be listed on the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange at 8am on November 13.
Newly incorporated in Guernsey, the fund aims to provide investors with regular and growing income and capital returns from music intellectual property at a time when streaming is delivering industry-wide revenue growth.
Round Hill has catalogues with more than 120,000 songs by artists including The Beatles, Celine Dion, The Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and Katy Perry. But it will be competing with Hipgnosis, which has been rapidly buying up copyrights.
The Round Hill fund will invest in songwriters’ copyright interests in compositions and master rights. Round Hill Music LP will act as the private equity firm for the fund. Cenkos Securities acted as sole bookrunner and financial adviser to the company.
Trevor Bowen, chair of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund, said: “I am delighted to announce the successful IPO of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited. When considered against the global turbulence prevalent during the IPO process due to Covid-19, this achievement clearly demonstrates a strong investor appetite for both the music royalty asset class, the performance of which is highly uncorrelated to movements in the global economy, and the recognised expertise of the Round Hill team as an investment manager in this sector. On behalf of the board I welcome our new shareholders and thank them for their support, and we look forward to updating you all on the progress of Round Hill and their team, as we together develop the company as a listed entity.
“The Company has an identified portfolio of exceptional songs and catalogues including classic tracks from some of the world’s best-known artists that are already extremely familiar to the investment manager. We will actively progress and update on our intention to purchase the identified portfolio for the company as soon as practical.”
Josh Gruss, CEO of Round Hill, said: “All of us at Round Hill are very pleased with and encouraged by the strong level of support for the IPO of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited. This marks the next stage in Round Hill’s development in London, a market with sophisticated investors that understand music royalties and the potential from this asset class. We look forward to working closely with the board in maximising returns for new investors.”
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