Blackstone turns up the volume in bidding war for Hipgnosis

Blackstone is gearing up to submit a bigger bid for the London-listed fund that owns the rights to songs by Justin Bieber and Shakira.

American private equity giant Blackstone has reportedly been finalising a revised proposal to buy Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) over the weekend.

Blackstone is gearing up to submit a bigger bid for the London-listed fund that owns the rights to songs by Justin Bieber and Shakira as soon as Monday, according to Sky News.

Blackstone’s offer will surpass the $1.25-per-share bid endorsed by HSF’s board last Thursday, which came from Concord Music, backed by Apollo Global Management, sources told Sky News.

Blackstone and HSF both declined to comment.

Concord’s latest offer is $1.25 (99p) per share, equating to roughly $1.5bn (£1.2bn), and is only 1p more than Blackstone’s possible bid.

It plans to sell up to 30 per cent of Hipgnosis’ assets within 18 to 24 months of an acquisition, according to a filing with the London Stock Exchange.

In a statement last week, Hipgnosis said: “The Hipgnosis directors believe that the increased Concord offer is in the best interests of Hipgnosis shareholders as a whole, and accordingly unanimously recommend that Hipgnosis shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions required to implement the increased Concord offer to be proposed at the court meeting and the general meeting which are due to be held on or around 10 June 2024.”

It came after the board of Hipgnosis received and recommended a £1.1bn offer from US firm Concord.

Blackstone then revealed a potential rival offer, sparking a bidding war.

Hipgnosis has said it would be “minded” to recommend the Blackstone deal should it firm its offer.