December 08, 2022
Concord Prices $1.8 Billion ABS to Finance Corporate Growth Strategy
Apollo Structured and Anchored ABS as Long-term Financing Partner
NASHVILLE AND NEW YORK – December 8, 2022 – Concord, a global leader in music publishing, recorded music and theatrical rights licensing, has successfully priced $1.8 billion of senior notes secured by a significant portion of its highly diversified catalogue of sound recordings and songs. It is the largest asset-backed securitization offering of music rights in the industry to date in terms of both size of issuance and number of assets (over one million copyrights). Apollo (NYSE: APO), through its Capital Solutions business, structured the ABS transaction and formed an investor syndicate led by Apollo-managed funds. JP Morgan served as a co-structuring agent of the transaction. Proceeds from the issuance will be reinvested to support Concord’s continued growth in 2023 and beyond.
“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’s transaction reflects the growing value of music copyrights and increased interest from financial institutions in music royalties as a long-term, annuity-like asset class. The music industry is experiencing a period of sustained expansion, fueled by exponential growth in the global streaming market, new marketing platforms, increased collector demand for vinyl records and, with the integration of new technologies, diversified platforms for music commercialization. These combined factors benefit both legacy catalogues and new releases while driving artist and songwriter revenue.
Concord’s new 5-year facility is backed by an actively managed catalogue of more than 1 million unique music assets spanning a wide-range of genres, including over 300 GRAMMY Award winners and more than 400 recordings with Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum and Diamond Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certifications. The catalogue is valued at more than $4 billion, resulting in an approximate 44% loan-to-value ratio for the offering and the notes are rated A+ by KBRA.
Apollo Partner and Head of Asset-Backed Finance Bret Leas said, “Concord’s experienced management team continues to build a world-renowned catalogue of assets with diversification and cash flow characteristics well suited for asset-based lending. We are pleased to provide a tailored, flexible structured solution that supports their continued growth.”
Apollo Capital Solutions’ Paul Sipio added, “This transaction leverages the scale of our investment platform alongside our growing Capital Solutions business to originate, anchor and syndicate a comprehensive financing solution. Having known the Concord Board and management team for many years, we are pleased to support their future success.”
Concord continues to grow as a major force in the music industry. 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 and hundreds more.
FTI served as the valuation agent on the transaction and KBRA provided ratings services. DLA Piper served as legal counsel to Concord, and King & Spalding LLP as legal counsel to Apollo affiliates. Reed Smith and Greenberg Traurig serviced as special counsel with respect to music assets for Concord and for Apollo affiliates, respectively.
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ABOUT CONCORD
Concord is the independent, worldwide leader in the development, management and acquisition of sound recordings, music publishing, theatrical performance rights and narrative content. Headquartered in Nashville with additional offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin, Melbourne and Miami, Concord also has staff in Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. The Company’s catalog consists of more than 1 million songs, composed works, plays, musicals and active recordings which are licensed in virtually every country and territory worldwide.
CONCORD LABEL GROUP is comprised of seven active labels across many musical genres: Fantasy Records, Fearless Records, Loma Vista Recordings, Rounder Records, Easy Eye Sound, Concord Records and Concord Jazz.
The company’s historical labels are managed by its Craft Recordings team, and include such storied imprints as Fania, Independiente, Milestone, Musart, Nitro, Pablo, Prestige, Riverside, Savoy, Specialty, Stax, Telarc, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay, Victory and Wind-up. Concord's master recording portfolio contains more than 275,000 active song recordings and includes no less than 300 GRAMMY® winners (representing over 6.6% of all the GRAMMYs® ever awarded) and over 400 Gold, Platinum, multi-Platinum and Diamond RIAA certifications across 215 titles.
Concord is also home to the #1 kids’ music brand, KIDZ BOP. Now in its 20th year, the global hit music franchise has sold 22.5 million albums, generated 8 billion streams, and continues to reach kids and families with new music, videos, consumer products and live tours.
CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING represents more than 600,000 copyrighted works by the world’s most celebrated songwriters, composers and lyricists. Spanning nearly two centuries of song, through a vast array of genres and territories, Concord Music Publishing also supports a diverse group of contemporary creators producing important and popular new songs and musical works. Concord Music Publishing is home to the world’s leading classical music publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, and operates exclusive joint ventures with top pop music publisher, Pulse Music Group and Hillary Lindsey’s Hang Your Hat Music.
CONCORD THEATRICALS is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Ken Ludwig, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class production.
CONCORD ORIGINALS is Concord’s narrative content creation division. The team develops and produces stories anchored by Concord’s artists, music and theatrical works. Concord Originals takes a proactive, narrative-driven approach to each project and partners with A-list storytellers to produce premium content for screen and beyond. The division’s slate is comprised of feature films, series, documentaries and podcasts, including remakes and re-imaginings of properties from Concord’s iconic portfolio.
Concord is a private company funded by long-term institutional capital and members of Concord’s management team. At the forefront of intellectual property valuation, acquisition and utilization, the Concord investment underscores the partners’ belief in the lasting and appreciating global value of superior original creative content.
About Apollo
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of September 30, 2022, Apollo had approximately $523 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.
Contact Information
Noah Gunn
Global Head of Investor Relations
Apollo Global Management, Inc.
(212) 822-0540
IR@apollo.com
Joanna Rose
Global Head of Corporate Communications
Apollo Global Management, Inc.
(212) 822 0491
