State Champ Radio HarbourView Equity Partners
HarbourView Equity Partners, the Newark, NJ-based investment firm that has acquired rights to music by Wiz Khalifa and Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, among many others, raised approximately $500 million through an asset-backed securitization [ABS], the company announced Wednesday.
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The private ABS, backed by royalties generated by its music catalog, was led by global investment firm KKR. Investment accounts advised by Kuvare Asset Management also participated. Guggenheim Securities was the structuring advisor, and Guggenheim Securities and Barclays acted as co-placement agents.
“We are grateful to KKR for working with us to deliver a flexible and innovative financing structure that will support HarbourView in expanding its reach,” HarbourView founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares said in a statement. “This capital will allow us to further our mission of investing in assets and companies driven by premier intellectual property while striving to ensure that creators are appropriately valued for their contributions to the world.”
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“This transaction is a testament to the scale and versatility of our High-Grade Asset-Based Finance [ABF] strategy, which is a fast-growing segment of our private credit business,” Avi Korn and Chris Mellia, co-heads of U.S. ABF at KKR, said in a statement. KKR’s ABF segment has amassed approximately $48 billion in assets under management since 2016. “Music IP is one of many areas where we see opportunity and we are pleased to finance a scaled and high-quality portfolio in this space.”
Founded in 2021, HarbourView launched with $1 billion of financial backing from investment giant Apollo Global Management. The company increased its buying power in December by increasing its credit facility by $100 million to $300 million. To date, it has acquired over 50 catalogs — including Brad Paisley, Jeremih, Nelly, Luis Fonsi and Eslabon Armado — and has $1.6 billion in regulatory managed assets.
The ABS will give HarbourView additional ammunition to pursue music rights. When a music company raises money through an ABS, it sells debt that will be repaid by royalties from its music catalog. A large music catalog filled with established songs provides to type of diversified, predictable income that’s attractive to investors. Music companies often prefer an ABS because it tends to have a higher loan-to-value ratio than traditional debt. That means the music company can raise more funding from a specific portfolio through an ABS than a bank would be willing to lend against the same assets.
A handful of companies have raised enormous sums of money through music royalties ABS deals in the past two years. In 2021, Lyric and Northleaf launched a $304 million ABS backed by 52,000 assets in Spirit Music Group’s portfolio. In 2022, Concord did a $1.8 billion ABS and Chord Music Partners, a venture of KKR and Dundee Music Partners, raised $733 million. Most recently, Kobalt raised $267 million in February through a security backed by publishing royalties from a 5,000-song catalog.
The growth of the music streaming market has helped create the current climate for music-backed ABS deals — and should result in more deals in the future. A large music catalog’s streaming royalties makes music assets “more suitable” for securitization, ratings agency S&P Global wrote in February. “The uptick in global music industry revenue over the last several years, and the desire of market players to diversify funding sources suggests that we may continue to see more of these types of transactions in the coming years.”
HarbourView Equity Partners, which has emerged as a leading buyer of R&B/hip-hop music assets, announced that it has acquired select songwriting and publishing assets of Full Force, the music group and production team whose credits include UTFO’s “Roxanne Roxanne;” the Backstreet Boys‘ “All I Have to Give You;” Rihanna’s “That La, La La;” and their own “Ain’t My Type of Hype.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Besides the above songs, Full Force discovered Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, which went on to release hits like “I Wonder If I Can Take You Home” and “All Cried Out” — both of which were on the latter group’s debut album, a collaboration credited to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.
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“The repertoire of Full Force defined a generation of Pop / R&B / Hip Hop with writings spanning NSync, BackStreet Boys, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam not to mention their own legacy as artists,” HarbourView Equity Partners CEO/founder Sherrese Clarke Soares said in a statement. “As exceptional songwriters, producers, and musicians, they’ve seamlessly weaved creativity and innovation into timeless tunes, collaborating with some of the most prominent icons of our generation.”
According to the announcement, Full Force’s “unique ability to seamlessly blend R&B, hip-hop, pop and dance elements in both their own performances and work with other artists…has left an enduring legacy and impact on the fabric of the music landscape.”
In a statement on the deal, Brian B-Fine George of Full Force said, “Full Force is excited to be working with Harbourview, a company with a vision that’s right on trend with the future, and very dedicated to expanding the reach of our extensive song catalog.”
HarbourView Equity’s other R&B/hip-hop acquisitions include select music assets by Nelly, Wiz Khalifa and Jeremih; and the publishing catalog of songwriting and production duo Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, better known as Dre & Vidal, among others.
The company describes itself as a “multi-strategy, investment firm focused on investment opportunities in the entertainment and media space. Its asset portfolio features thousands of titles spanning numerous genres, eras, and artists, amounting to a diversified catalog of over 28,000 songs across both master recordings and publishing income streams.”
The announcement further describes HarbourView as striving “to be the standard for excellence and integrity in investing in assets and companies driven by premier intellectual property, with experience in and around esoteric asset classes, including in music, film, TV, and sports.’’
Cynthia Katz and Heidy Vaquerano from Fox Rothschild LLP served as legal counsel to HarbourView for this transaction. Full Force was represented by Karl Guthrie at The Guthrie Law Firm and JAM at Tompkins Farm Music Inc.
HarbourView Equity Partners continues to scoop up R&B/hip-hop music assets with its latest acquisition of certain publishing and recorded music assets from singer, songwriter and record producer Jeremih. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Jeremih’s Hot 100 hits include “Birthday […]
HarborView Equity Partners, a rising player in music acquisitions that has built a hip-hop and R&B-heavy song catalog, announced Tuesday (Dec. 4) that it amended its senior secured credit facility to increase its borrowing capacity from $200 million to $300 million. The additional $100 million of funding will be used to continue to acquire music royalty catalogs as well as for general corporate purposes.
The credit facility is led by Fifth Third Bank and includes California Bank & Trust, MUFG Bank, Regions Bank and BankUnited. For the amended facility, three new lenders were added to the syndicate: Bank of America, Barclays and First Bank & Trust Company.
“HarbourView remains committed to providing the best execution for our growing LP base, against a relatively challenging market environment. We are thankful to both our new and existing financing partners for their commitment to HarbourView’s success,” said HarbourView head of capital markets Carlos Cruz in a statement.
“As capital conditions evolve, we are grateful for the continued support of our banking partners who have helped support HarbourView’s tremendous growth since inception,” added HarbourView CEO/founder Sherrese Clarke Soares.
Clarke Soares, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley who later founded Tempo Music and won the UBS & Billboard Trailblazer Award in February, has been attracted to R&B, hip-hop and Latin genres in addition to the classic pop and rock catalogs pursued by most investors.
Founded in 2021, the Newark, N.J.-based Harbourview is behind such recent acquisitions as the royalty income of select Nelly recordings, select recorded music and publishing assets of Wiz Khalifa and select publishing assets of Kane Brown. To date, HarbourView has acquired 45 music catalogs spanning about 26,000 songs. HarbourView owns the publishing catalog of “Despacito” co-writer Luis Fonsi and the publishing catalog of Dre & Vidal, the songwriting and production duo behind hits from Alicia Keys, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige.
“We’re looking at the intersection of historical performance, growth trends, returns — and expectation in terms of price,” Clarke Soares told Billboard in 2022. “Where all that intersects is where we have found a lot of great opportunities.”
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired what it refers to as “select” publishing assets of Kane Brown, the country music star whose catalog of three studio albums has so far generated 8.4 million album consumption units during his career. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Brown’s hit songs include such tunes as “What Ifs,” “Homesick,” […]
HarbourView Equity Partners has announced two new acquisitions: a share of Fleetwood Mac‘s recorded royalties owned by Christine McVie‘s estate and a share of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo’s publishing and recorded music assets.
Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
McVie, who died in November 2022 at age 79, was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists in Fleetwood Mac as well as one of its primary songwriters. She performed on all of the band’s albums beginning with 1971’s Future Games, including the seven-times platinum Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and the 21-times platinum Rumours in 1977. She’s best known for Fleetwood Mac songs including “Don’t Stop,” “Over My Head,” “Say You Love Me,” “Little Lies,” “Everywhere,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Songbird.”
“Christine’s remarkable talents played an integral role in shaping Fleetwood Mac’s sound,” said Harbourview founder Sheresse Clarke Soares in a statement. “The band’s timeless music and worldwide influence continues to captivate all generations of listeners today. We are honored to uphold that legacy as we welcome Christine’s lifetime of work with the band into HarbourView. Christine is a decorated and iconic legend in the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll. She is a global treasure. We hold her works with pride.”
Together, Benatar and her lead guitarist and producer Giraldo, whom she married in 1982, crafted all of Benatar’s albums, including two that went multi-platinum (Crimes of Passion and Precious Time), and five that went platinum (In the Heat of the Night, Get Nervous, Tropico, Live from Earth and greatest-hits compilation Best Shots). Their biggest hits include “We Belong,” “Invincible,” “Love is a Battlefield,” “Promises In The Dark,” “We Live For Love,” “Heartbreaker” and “Hell Is For Children.” According to a press release, they’ve sold more than 30 million records worldwide.
Clarke Soares added of the Benatar and Giraldo acquisition, “We are overjoyed to welcome into our repertoire the iconic catalog of Pat and Neil. The works are cross generational, inspirational and a perfect complement to our portfolio. The music spans generations and has seen us through moments of hope and healing. We are grateful to be stewards of this canon of work and look forward to partnering with Pat and Neil.”
McVie’s estate was represented in the transaction by her attorney Mario Gonzalez and her estate executors Paul Glass and Martin Wyatt. Benatar and Giraldo were represented by Gary Gilbert at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Harbourview was represented by Fox Rothschild in the McVie acquisition and by Derek Crownover at Loeb & Loeb in the Benatar and Giraldo acquisition.
Harbourview’s portfolio includes more than 24,000 songs across master recordings and publishing income streams. Other recent acquisitions include select publishing assets for “Hot Girl Bummer” star Blackbear, select recorded music and publishing assets for Wiz Khalifa, the artist royalty income stream for Nelly, the publishing catalog of Incubus and the catalog of SoundHouse Acquisitions, which holds some rights to master recordings for artists including Tech N9ne, Trey Songz and George Jones.
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired selected recorded and publishing assets of Blackbear, the hit songwriter and artist whose credits include “Hot Girl Bummer,” “Do Re Mi” and songwriting collaborations like Justin Bieber‘s “Boyfriend.” In the U.S., Blackbear’s catalog has generated 4.45 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. While the deal announcement doesn’t specify what […]
While accepting the UBS & Billboard Trailblazer Award at Billboard’s Power 100 Event at Goya Studios in Hollywood on Wednesday night (Feb. 1), Harbourview Equity Partners founder/CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares struck a somber note during an otherwise celebratory evening.
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“Harbourview has been a dream of mine for many years in the making, and I feel grateful that I’m able to do my life’s work,” said the executive, who has acquired nearly 40 catalogs since launching the company in October 2021. “However, at the same time I experience the joy of receiving the recognition, my heart is heavy. At first I could not really sort why, but as I prepared to board my flight to head out West, the words hit me, ‘I just want to get home.’”
Those words — spoken by Tyre Nichols, the Black man who died after being beaten by police officers following a traffic stop in Memphis on Jan. 10 — formed the crux of Clarke Soares’ brief speech, in which she also acknowledged other recent incidents of hatred, including mass shootings in California and the anti-Semitic vandalism of Jewish synagogues.
“Echoing in my head and in my heart, emotions ran deep as I thought of the last words of a young man 100 feet from his home, and I realized that over the last few weeks, as a country and as a community, we’ve beared witness to so much disregard and undervaluing of life,” Clarke Soares continued. “And so while I’m honored to stand before you today, I know our work at Harbourview will not be done until we use our power to trailblaze a path through music, storytelling and art that connects our collective humanity, humanizing each precious life, so that everyone makes it home to their families at night.”
Named one of Billboard‘s Change Agents in 2021 while serving in her previous role as founder/CEO of Tempo Music, Clarke Soares has consistently pointed to the importance of fostering diversity through her work — both in the staff she hires and the investments she makes. Before taking the stage, her efforts on that front were also highlighted by Wale Ogunleye, former football player and head of sports & entertainment at UBS, who presented Clarke Soares with the award while noting her “extremely diverse” team and “culturally…and musically diverse” portfolio of music catalogs.
Clarke Soares reiterated that overarching mission during her speech by invoking the phrase “Out of many, one people” — “a phrase we say at Harbourview, and we embody it if you look at our team,” she said. “And as a company, our trailblazing should not only be measured in the economic barriers that we break, but in the impact we have to be a place of hope without fear to tell stories that shape hearts and minds for love and humanity. And we ask all of you in this room, with all of your power, to join us in that journey.”
Clarke Soares was one of five individuals to accept awards at the high-powered event on Wednesday. Also honored were Noah Assad (executive of the year, presented by Bad Bunny); Avery and Monte Lipman, COO and CEO of Republic Records, respectively (label of the year, presented by Kim Petras); and HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk (the Clive Davis visionary award, presented by Clive Davis and Scooter Braun).
While HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the publishing or master recording royalties of an array of big-name artists such as Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line and Luis Fonsi since founder and CEO Sherrese Clark Soares launched the firm a year ago, her likely biggest deal to date—and one of the biggest deals by any acquirer in 2022— was for a bundle of music assets with far less star power but with a large economic punch.
Earlier this year, HarbourView Equity Partners, launched in October 2021, bought the little known but economically large SoundHouse Acquisitions LLC catalog, which includes some rights to some master recordings by the likes of Tech N9ne, Trey Songz, George Jones, Tenth Avenue North, Whiskey Myers and a heavy Latin music presence through the likes of Eslabon Armado, Natti Natasha, Lenin Ramirez and other Latin artists, sources say. Billboard estimates the deal went for about $325 million.
While that catalog consists mainly of royalty income payments for streams of sound recordings, the catalog is said to contain recordings from over 100 artists, consisting of about 10,000 songs that generate more than 10 billion streams annually. All told, SoundHouse’s 2021 income was put at about $24 million. Sources say that Shot Tower Capital shopped the catalog.
Prior to its acquisition by HarbourView, SoundHouse, founded in 2016, was known for approaching distressed labels and offering to buy their royalty income, mainly from the streaming of master recordings, at bargain-basement prices, sources say. SoundHouse also did deals with artists as well, but mainly by buying their streaming revenue from master recordings, leaving the artists to retain other income streams associated with their records. SoundHouse also sometimes only acquired income streams from some of the songs in an artist’s catalog, not all of them, one source suggested.
In addition, SoundHouse also acquired the assets of InPop Records, an indie contemporary Christian label based in Nashville. At the time of that deal, in February 2018, a press release said InPop was SoundHouse’s 15th acquisition and brought its catalog to over 3,500 recordings. MusicRow.com reported that deal represented SoundHouse’s third Christian music acquisition, and added that SoundHouse was backed by Spark Capital, Columbia Capital and Pinnacle Bank.
In any event, sources suggest that the HarbourView deal for SoundHouse carried a price tag that ranged anywhere from $250 million to $400 million. These days, master recording rights are trading for a 12-15 times multiple, although superstar recordings have been known to reach a 20-times multiple of net income, also known as net label share. Considering the catalog’s annual income and artist caliber, a 12-times multiple would price the catalog at $288 million, while a 15-times multiple would price it at $360 million. Consequently, Billboard estimates that the catalog sold for about $325 million.
That price puts it in the same size area as the deal for the Genesis/Phil Collins et al. master recordings/publishing catalog acquired by Concord in September. However, unlike that deal, the SoundHouse deal doesn’t include any publishing revenue, so that puts the SoundHouse deal up there as possibly the biggest deal of 2022 for recorded master assets, at least so far this year.
SoundHouse was founded by Michael Rosenblatt, an executive producer of 20 feature films such as Valley Girl and Teen Wolf. With the sale of the SoundHouse catalog, the company principals have started a new vehicle, with apparently the same mission of buying music income streams. That company is named round2media, and aside from CEO and president Rosenblatt, it also lists among its leadership team COO/CFO Jeff Patterson, formerly with Columbia Capital; senior vp of finance, accounting and administration Vanessa Jolie, who held a similar position at SoundHouse; and vp of business affairs Shara Yolkut, whose background includes a stint at EMI Music Publishing as vp of product operations.
Clarke Soares declined to comment for this story. Likewise, round2media’s Rosenblatt declined to comment for his story, beyond emailing a statement: “As a company, SoundHouse, and now round2media, considers the confidentiality of our transactions to be one of our ethical cornerstones. I can confirm that round2media is in the business of acquiring rights and royalties and has made multiple acquisitions to date. Please visit our website to learn more.”
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the music publishing catalog of Incubus, the genre-bending rock band that has generated 12.4 million U.S. album consumption units since forming in 1991, according to Luminate. When non-U.S. sales are added in, the group has sold more than 23 million records, according to the announcement.
Terms of the deal, which also encompasses the individual works of group member Mike Einzigerl, were not disclosed but it includes such songs from the band as “Drive,” “Love Hurts,” and “Megalomaniac,” as well as Einzinger’s share of the Avicii hit, “Wake Me Up,” which he co-wrote. Besides Avicii, Einiger has collaborated with Pharrell Williams, Skrillex, and Tyler the Creator, among others, either as a songwriter and or producer.
Other deals HarbourView have done since launching a year ago include Sum 41, Brad Paisley, Lady A, Hollywood Undead, Florida Georgia Line, Luis Fonsi and R&B songwriting and production duo Dre & Vidal.
During the course of their career, Incubus has released eight studio albums and recorded over 100 songs.
Fox Rothschild served as legal counsel to HarbourView in the transaction. Incubus and Mike Einziger were represented by Todd Cooper and Monica Zhang of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Incubus management is Johnny Wright and Joe Lilak for Wright Entertainment Group. Incubus business management is Bill Vuylsteke, CPA and David Boyson of Provident Financial Management. Mike Einziger is managed by Martin Kierszenbaum for Cherrytree Management.
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