Yahoo Finance Hipgnosis Songs Fund pays directors extra £250,000 for work on deal
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has awarded directors an extra £250,000 each to compensate for the increased workload required to complete the £1.2bn sale of the music rights company.
The sum is more than double the annual fees of the five directors, which range between £83,000 and £95,000, including chairman Robert Naylor.
If the sale goes through, they are all expected to step down from the fund, which owns the rights to songs by artists such as Beyonce, Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
A spokeswoman for Hipgnosis Songs Fund said: “The non-executive directors of Hipgnosis Songs Fund are being paid additional fees to reflect the significant amount of additional time they have needed to devote to their roles over several months, work which has been clearly focused on creating value for investors.”
It will also reimburse directors for out-of-pocket expenses related to the deal.
Late last year, a leadership reshuffle took place at Hipgnosis Songs Fund after investors voted against the board to oust previous chairman Andrew Sutch and two directors.
Robert Naylor, previously non-executive chairman of Round Hill Music until its sale to Alchemy Copyrights, took over as chair of the board. Music industry veteran Francis Keeling took up a role as a non-executive director after holding the same position at Round Hill Music.
The other three directors are Christopher Mills, Simon Holden and Cindy Rampersaud.
In June, private equity giant Blackstone upped a previous offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund by $0.01 (less than a penny) to $1.31 (103p) in an attempt to woo shareholders.
It came amid a takeover battle with American music rights company Concord to buy the London-listed fund. Concord refused to increase its offer of $1.25 (99p) per Hipgnosis share, leaving Blackstone’s bid as the highest on the table.
But the deal still needs a 75 per cent approval from Hipgnosis shareholders, who are set to vote on the takeover on 8 July.