List and Shout: Round Hill Music raises $282m in London float
Music royalties firm Round Hill today said it has raised $282m (£212m) from its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
The Guernsey-based company, which is an owner and operator of music copyright, has outlined plans to snap up a portfolio of song catalogues with the proceeds of the float.
It has already identified more than 120,000 songs by artists including The Beatles, Celine Dion, The Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and Katy Perry.
However, the proceeds from the IPO are below the firm’s target of $375m.
“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,” said Round Hill chair Trevor Bowen.
“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.”
Round Hill, which is the seventh largest music company in the US, will seek to generate revenue from its portfolio by placing songs in films, TV shows and adverts.
It is the latest company offering investors the chance to cash in on new sources of income from songs, spurred on by the rise of streaming platforms such as Spotify, Youtube and Tiktok.
Round Hill will be a new rival to London-listed songs fund Hipgnosis, run by music industry greats Merck Mercuriadis and Nile Rogers.
Round Hill shares are expected to be admitted to the specialist fund segment of the London Stock Exchange on Friday morning.