Embattled music fund Hipgnosis has failed to find a higher bid than Blackstone’s $440m (£358m) offer for its catalogue sale, which includes songs by Shakira and the Kaiser Chiefs, as it continues to recommend shareholders vote in favour of a continuation for the company this week.
Shares in the songs fund dropped two per cent today after it said that it attracted 17 buyers in its ‘go-shop’ process, with eight signing non-disclosure agreements and one submitting a non-binding offer, which ultimately fell through.
Multiple parties told the board that they “could not justify paying a higher price” than the offer from the original buyer for the first disposal.
Hipgnosis incorporated a ‘go-shop’ provision to allow the board to seek and entertain alternative offers for a period of 40 days from the announcement of the sale of 29 music catalogues.
