BMG Rights Management to acquire music publishing assets of Crosstown Songs America
- Transaction represents first acquisition of music rights for Bertelsmann's and KKR's new global music rights management joint venture
BMG Rights Management announced today that it has agreed to acquire the music publishing assets of certain affiliates of Crosstown Songs America (www.crosstownsongs.com). The transaction represents the first acquisition of music rights for BMG, the new global music rights management joint venture of Bertelsmann AG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The transaction is subject to approval under applicable competition laws and other customary conditions to closing.
Founded by CarVal Investors, Crosstown is a leading independent music publishing company, headquartered in Los Angeles, focused on the management, acquisition, and creative development of music copyrights. BMG will acquire the rights to over 8,000 songs, including new copyrights featured on some of the top-selling albums of the past two years. The acquired assets represent a catalog of diverse, seasoned rights as well as a strong pipeline of new content created through partnerships with well-established writers.
“The acquisition of Crosstown represents a significant first step for the new joint venture and our desire to define a new business standard in managing the licensing and administration of content rights,” said Hartwig Masuch, CEO of BMG Rights Management.
Financial terms between the parties, both privately held, were not disclosed. Crosstown was advised by Signal Hill as financial advisor and Faegre & Benson LLP as counsel. BMG was advised by Manatt Phelps & Phillips, LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as co-counsel.
About BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management focuses on comprehensive and competent management of music rights. The company covers the entire range of rights administration and places the needs of songwriters and performing artists at the core of its business model. Since its founding in late 2008, the company has completed a number of prominent signings and now represents the rights of Jim Beanz, Toby Gad, 2Raumwohnung, Peter Fox, Nena, Sasha, Cascada, A-ha, La Roux, Alison Moyet and Vaya Con Dios, to name just a few.
www.bmgrights.com
About KKR
Established in 1976, KKR is a leading global alternative asset manager. KKR's franchise is sponsoring and managing funds that make investments in private equity, fixed income and other assets in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Throughout its history, KKR has brought a long-term investment approach, focusing on working in partnership with management teams of its portfolio companies and investing for future competitiveness and growth. KKR has more than $35 billion in private equity assets under management and more than $12 billion in credit assets under management as of March 31, 2009 through various private and publicly traded funds and separately managed accounts. KKR also carries out capital markets activities through its broker dealer subsidiaries. KKR has offices in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Dubai and Sydney. More information about KKR is available at: www.kkr.com
About Bertelsmann AG
Bertelsmann is an international media company encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato), and media clubs (Direct Group) in more than 50 countries. Bertelsmann’s claim is to inspire people around the world with first-class media and communications offerings – entertainment, information and services – and occupy leading positions in its respective markets. The foundation of Bertelsmann's success is a corporate culture based on partnership, entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and corporate responsibility. The company strives to bring creative new ideas to market and create value.
www.bertelsmann.com
About CarVal Investors
CarVal Investors is a leader in managing opportunistic value investments. Founded in 1987, CarVal Investors has managed the acquisition of more than $25 billion in assets in 3,600 transactions in 54 countries. Today, the firm manages $8 billion in assets and has 339 employees in 11 offices in 10 countries across the globe. More information is available at www.carvalinvestors.com
Contact at Bertelsmann:
Tobias Riepe
Vice President Media Relations
Phone: +49 (0) 52 41 – 80 77 69
Contact at KKR:
Peter McKillop
Director of Global Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 2 30 94 75
Kristi Huller
Deputy Director of Global Communications
Phone: +1 (212) 2 30 97 22
Contact at CarVal Investors:
Ann Folkman
Director of Marketing
Phone: +1 (952) 9 84 39 19
Attachment
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| Crosstown_engl.pdf | 78 kB |
