About the song: Hipgnosis, which owns the rights to catalogs from artists including Beyoncé (pictured), for £1.25bn.
A private equity titan has sweetened its offer for Hipgnosis as it tries to secure an acquisition deal.
Blackstone raised its offer to 103 pence per share, valuing the music group, which owns the rights to catalogs by artists including Beyoncé and Blondie, at £1.25 billion.
This was slightly above the 102 pence per share the New York-based group agreed to pay in April. Blackstone has also said it will change the deal to a so-called “scheme of arrangement” that requires a higher threshold of shareholder support but makes the process faster.
Under these rules, the private equity firm will need 75 percent shareholder approval, much more than the 55 percent backing it previously needed.
The latest offer comes after months of uncertainty at Hipgnosis, which has been at the center of a bidding war between Blackstone and US music group Concord, which had made its own £1.1bn profit.
And if the deal goes ahead, it will mean London will lose another FTSE 250 company.
Hipgnosis was co-founded in 2018 by Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis, who previously represented artists including Morrissey, Iron Maiden, Pet Shop Boys and Sir Elton John.
The company earns royalties every time a song to which it owns the rights is played.
But the value of its catalogs has declined over the past two years as interest rates rise.
