Follow the Money! Big Capital in the Music Rights Market – Part 2: The Investment Giants

In part 1 of the series, we traced the music rights sales boom since 2019. In this part, we will take a closer look at the companies that provide the financial resources to acquire music rights catalogues. These are some of the largest companies in the international financial industry. They include BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, The Carlyle Group, Brookfield Asset Management and Apollo Global Management. These companies manage billions, and even trillions, of US dollars of assets under management (AUM) in investor capital. These are primarily private equity firms whose business model involves identifying undervalued assets, purchasing them by using a combination of equity and debt capital, and then selling them at an increased target value to generate returns for their investors. Their revenue model is based on various fees they receive for their management services. This second part of the ‘Follow the Money!’ series presents the most important of these financial and investment giants.

Follow the Money! Big Capital in the Music Rights Market –   Part 2: The Investment Giants

BlackRock Inc.

BlackRock Inc. is the largest financial and investment conglomerate in the world, with 19,800 employees in over 30 countries and managing US $10 trillion in assets by the end of 2023. It was founded in March 1988 as Blackstone Financial Management by Larry Fink and other former managers of US investment bank First Boston, with financial support from Blackstone, which initially held a 50 per cent stake. In 1994, Blackstone sold its stake, and the company was renamed BlackRock Financial Management. BlackRock went public in 1999, managing US $141 billion in assets.

BlackRock is involved in the music IP market through two investment vehicles: BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI) and Influence Media Partners, a joint venture with Warner Music Group. BAI partnered with Primary Wave in 2016 to invest US $300 million in Primary Wave’s IP Fund 1, acquiring shares of Smokey Robinson’s song catalogue. BAI was formed when BlackRock bought Quellos Group’s fund-of-funds business for US $1.7 billion in 2007. Hedge funds, like BAI, use high-risk strategies to outperform market returns. Fund-of-funds diversify investments to reduce risk for conservative investors, though they come with higher management fees. In 2022, Brookfield Asset Management bought out BAI, investing US $1.7 billion in Primary Wave and acquiring US $700 million worth of rights from Primary Wave’s IP Fund 1 and 2. Influence Media Partners, founded by Lylette Pizarro in 2019, partnered with Warner Music Group in 2022 to create a music IP fund. BlackRock invested US $750 million in the company to acquire music catalogues from artists like Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, and Enrique Iglesias. In December 2024, HPS Investment Partners, with US $148 billion in assets, became part of BlackRock. HPS invested US $1 billion in Iconic Artist Group, acquiring Rod Stewart’s music catalogue for US $100 million. BlackRock, therefore, has direct investments in the music rights market with HPS Investment Partners and is indirectly involved with Influence Media Partners. Nevertheless, BlackRock’s engagement in the music IRP market remains very limited and appears to be only a marginal part of the group.

Blackstone Group

Blackstone is one of the oldest private equity companies, founded in 1985 by former Lehman Brothers executives Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman in New York City. The name “Blackstone” comes from the founders’ names: “Schwarz” means black in German, and “Peter” (from “petros”) means rock or stone in Greek. Initially, Blackstone’s business model was to buy poorly run public companies, delist them, improve their value, and sell them at a profit. This model is typical for private equity companies, and Blackstone was a pioneer in this field. After a private equity boom in the 1980s, the market for leveraged buyouts cooled in the 1990s but recovered in the early 2000s. Blackstone was a leading player during this period, participating in significant acquisitions such as Houghton Mifflin Company and music buying club Columbia House in 2002.. In 2007, Blackstone acquired Hilton Hotels for US $26 billion and went public shortly before the subprime mortgage crisis. Despite the crisis, Blackstone emerged relatively unscathed and continued to be a key player in private equity acquisitions in the 2010s and 2020s. Over the years, Blackstone transformed from a pure private equity company to an alternative investment management conglomerate. By 2023, it reported four business segments: Real Estate, Private Equity, Credit & Insurance, and Hedge Fund Solutions. The Real Estate segment was the largest, followed by Credit & Insurance, Private Equity, and Hedge Fund Solutions. Blackstone’s main revenue sources are management and advisory fees, along with realized investment income.

Blackstone’s initial foray into the music rights market began with the acquisition of the non-profit US-collecting society, Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), for a rumoured US $1 billion in January 2017. This acquisition was made by Blackstone’s Core Equity Partners (BCEP I), which manages US $4.76 billion in assets. BCEP I is a long-term private equity fund with a focus on investments exceeding ten years. Besides SESAC, BCEP I has made sixteen other investments, including the purchase of Japanese real estate company GE Capital in 2020 and the producer of marketing materials, HH Global, in 2019. The limited partners of BCEP I are primarily retirement and pension funds in the US, Canada and Finland.

Hipgnosis Songs Capital and Hipgnosis Song Management Ltd. are controlled by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Advisors (BTOA), which manages several funds, including the Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Funds I-IV. The Tactical Opportunities Fund I (Tac Opps I), which administers the Hipgnosis assets, was launched in 2012 with US $5.6 billion to invest in private investment opportunities outside of traditional private equity. Tac Opps I has investors as limited partners, mainly retirement funds such as the New York State Retirement Fund and the Allegheny County Retirement System. Other investments of Tac Opps I include L’Occitane International, Sustana Fiber, and SUNZ Insurance.

Blackstone is also a 9 per cent shareholder of New Mountain Capital, which led a consortium to buy the US collecting society Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) for a rumoured US $1.3 billion in November 2023. New Mountain Capital focuses on small and mid-sized companies in financial trouble, using a modest amount of debt to restructure and later sell them. New Mountain Capital manages US $29.1 billion in assets from pooled investment vehicles with retirement and pension funds as limited partners.

Apollo Global Management

Apollo Advisors was founded by four former executives of Drexel Burnham Lambert after its bankruptcy in 1990, raising US $400 million for a private equity fund specialising in distressed securities. In 1993, Apollo entered the real estate market with the Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund. Between 1995 and 2001, Apollo established three more private equity funds with a total of US $8.8 billion in investor commitments. Before the 2008 financial crisis, Apollo benefited from the private equity market boom, acquiring several companies in multi-billion-dollar deals such as Momentive Performance Materials for US $3.8 billion and the Dutch mail and parcel service PostNL for US $1.9 billion in 2006 as well as Noranda Aluminium for US $1.15 billion. In 2007, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority bought a 9 per cent stake in Apollo, foreshadowing a planned IPO in 2008, which ultimately failed due to the international financial crisis. The IPO was postponed to 2011, when Apollo Global Management raised US $565.4 million at the New York Stock Exchange. This led to new investments in media and cultural industries, such as the acquisition of McGraw-Hill’s education unit and the merger of Apollo’s Endemol television studios with 21^st Century Fox’s Shine Group to form Endemol Shine Group. From the 2010s onwards, Apollo continued to acquire companies in multi-billion-dollar deals, including Verizon Media Group with Yahoo! and insurance giant Athene.

Apollo Global Management’s involvement in the music rights market, though modest compared to multi-billion-dollar deals, is significant. In October 2021, Apollo provided US $1 billion to HarbourView Equity Partners, founded by Sherrese Clarke Soares, to acquire master and publishing rights. HarbourView has since spent at least US $500 million on music rights, with its credit line increased to US $300 million in December 2023. Apollo also partnered with Concord Bicycle Music Group in 2022 to issue US $1.8 billion in asset-backed securities and supported Concord’s unsuccessful bid for the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Most recently, Apollo co-invested US $700 million in the music catalogue of the British rock band Queen, which Sony Music purchased for $1.27 billion in June 2024.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR)

KKR, founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis, and George Roberts, is a prominent private equity firm known for pioneering leveraged buyout deals. It gained fame with its US $31.3 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988, a deal detailed in the book “Barbarians at the Gate.” Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, KKR led the private equity market with significant acquisitions, including Beatrice Companies, the owner of Samsonite, and the US $5.5 billion buyout of Safeway.. Despite a slowdown in the early 1990s, KKR re-entered the market with a US $5 billion fund in 1996, leading to further buyouts like Amphenol Corporation and Wincor Nixdorf. In the 2000s, KKR continued its success with major transactions such as Toys “R” Us and SunGard, and its largest pre-crisis deal, the US $44.4 billion buyout of Texas-based electricity retailer TXU. After the 2008 financial crisis, KKR resumed its activities and expanded into real estate with the purchase of Yorktown Center in 2012, establishing a new business segment.

In the 2010s, KKR started to invest in the media and cultural industries. In 2019, KKR acquired three television and film production companies in Germany – Tele München Gruppe, Universum Film GmbH and Wiedemann & Berg Film Production – and a 43.54 per cent stake in the German media conglomerate Axel Springer AG for US $3.2 billion. But also outside Germany, KKR was interested in the cultural industries and bought one of the world’s largest book publishers, Simon S. Schuster, for US $1.6 billion in 2023.

KKR began its engagement in the music sector in 2009 with a joint venture with Bertelsmann AG to create BMG Rights Management, in which KKR invested EUR 250 million in return for a 51 per share. Over the years, BMG acquired numerous music publishers and record labels. However, KKR withdrew from the joint venture in March 2013, and Bertelsmann AG acquired KKR’s stake for EUR 300 million. In January 2021, KKR bought a majority stake in the song catalogue of Ryan Tedder, the frontman of OneRepublic, for US $200 million. This deal included Tedder’s songs written for other artists after January 1, 2016, and the songs he has written and performed for OneRepublic. KKR made this investment through Chord Music Partners, a joint venture with Dundee Partners, using capital from KKR’s Dislocation Opportunities Fund. KKR’s Dislocation Opportunities Fund is a distressed debt fund, founded in 2019, with US $2.97 billion AUM. The Dislocation Opportunities Fund has 10 limited partners mainly foundations, charitable organizations and insurance companies. In October 2021, Chord Music Partners and the Dislocation Opportunities Fund bought the KMR Music Royalties II portfolio from Swedish music publisher Kobalt, which contained 62,000 music copyrights, for US $1.1 billion. Shortly after, KKR partnered with BMG again in March 2021 to jointly buy music rights, with each party committing US $500 million for acquisitions. In February 2024, KKR sold its majority stake in Chord Music to Universal Group, which holds now a 25.8 per cent stake and Dundee Partners owning the rest of 74.2 per cent.

The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group is a global investment company managing assets worth US $426 billion. Founded by five partners in New York City, it initially focused on leveraged buyouts in the defense industry. Despite the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Carlyle continued its buyout projects, acquiring companies like Dex Media and The Hertz Corporation. The 2008 financial crisis led Carlyle to diversify into credit solutions and alternative asset management. Notable acquisitions include Italian clothing company Dainese, cyber security firm ManTech International, and a 50 per cent stake in US clothing brand Supreme. Carlyle went public in 2012, raising US $671 million.

In 2022, Carlyle’s Global Credit platform partnered with music industry experts to establish Litmus Music, an investment vehicle for music rights. The Credit Opportunities Fund II (CCOF II), which has deployed US $2.2 billion in media and entertainment companies, provided US $500 million for the acquisition of Keith Urban’s recording catalogue in 2022 through Litmus. The CCOF II was established in 2020 as a vintage private equity debt fund with US $4.6 billion AUM. It invests in the movies, music and entertainment, software, and financial service sectors. The fund has 13 limited partners, mainly insurance companies and retirement plans such as the Allstate Insurance Company from Illinois and the I.A.M. National Pension Fund from Washington D.C. In 2023, the CCOF II and Litmus bought compositions from Benny Blanco, who wrote hits for Rihanna, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Arianna Grande and Maroon 5 as well as the master royalty income stream and publishing rights to Katy Perry’s albums released between 2008 and 2020. In 2024, Carlyle increased the credit facility for Litmus by US $400 million to acquire Opus Music Group, which owns rights to music catalogues from Juice WRLD, Ozuna, Maluma, and Rauw Alejandro, and to buy a share of Randy Newman’s music publishing and recording catalogue.

Brookfield Corporation and Oaktree Capital Management

Brookfield Asset Management, now known as Brookfield Corporation, is one of the world’s largest alternative investment companies, based in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1899, it has evolved significantly over the years. Initially providing electricity and transport infrastructure in Brazil, it was later acquired by Edper Investments and renamed Brascan Ltd. In 2005, it became Brookfield Asset Management Inc., focusing on Brazilian infrastructure projects. By 2018, it had diversified into various sectors, including infrastructure, renewable energy, property, and business services. Notably, it acquired Westinghouse Electric Company from bankruptcy in 2018 as well as a majority stake in Oaktree Capital Partners in 2019 for US $4,7 billion, which has been increased to 72 per cent in 2024. In 2022, Brookfield Corporation spun off a 25 per cent interest in its asset management business, forming Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., which manages US $916 billion in assets. This includes significant stakes in Oaktree Capital Management and music publisher Primary Wave, which controls the song catalogues of renowned artists like Ray Charles, Bob Marley, and Whitney Houston.

DWS Group

DWS Group is the latest PE company that entered the music rights market in February 2025, when it funded a US $1 billion joint venture between Cutting Edge Group and Warner Bros. The predecessor of DWS Group was the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wertpapiersparen, founded in 1956, which was later renamed Die Wertpapier Spezialisten (DWS). It was a joint venture of several German financial institutions led by Deutsche Bank, which held a 30 per cent share. In 2004, DWS was fully acquired by Deutsche Bank, which transformed DWS into a wealth and asset management subsidiary. In 2018, DWS was spun off as a separate company in an IPO on the Frankfurt stock exchange, with Deutsche Bank as the main shareholder, which still holds almost 80 per cent of the shares. With assets under management of EUR 896 billion, DWS is one of the world’s largest asset management companies. DWS offers traditional passive investment vehicles such as securities funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) but also increased the number of alternative investment opportunities such as investments in real estate, infrastructure, private equity and liquid assets. State and municipal governmental agencies are the main investors in DWS funds, followed by insurance companies, pension and retirement plans and other investment companies.

Smaller PE Companies in the Music IPR Market

BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Brookfield Asset Management (including Oaktree) and The Carlyle Group are the giants of international asset management and investment that have become active in the past few years in music rights market. For these firms, investing in music rights is a niche activity with a total AUM of well under 1 per cent, primarily for risk and portfolio diversification purposes. The situation is somewhat different for smaller PE and asset management firms, which have to pursue a niche strategy due to their limited resources. We will show below that music rights investments are much more relevant to the overall offering of these smaller firms in terms of assets under management.

Thus, smaller PE companies such as the US-based Hellman & Friedman (H&F), Francisco Partners, Providence Equity Partners, the Canadian Northleaf Capital Partners and Shamrock Capital Advisors have invested heavily in music rights catalogues.

Hellman & Friedman (H&F) made a significant investment in the music rights market by purchasing Global Music Rights (GMR) for US $3.3 billion in September 2024, which is a 3.75 per cent share of total AUM. H&F, founded in 1987 by former executives of Lehman Brothers and Solomon Brothers, specializes in leveraged buyouts and growth capital investments, focusing on media, financial, and information services. They have a history of investing in companies like Axel Springer Verlag, Pro7Sat1 Group, Nielsen, Getty Images, and NASDAQ. In 2024, H&F managed US $105 billion in assets, primarily through private equity buyouts with their Capital Partners Funds. The latest fund, the Capital Partners Fund XI, was established in 2023 and has US $22.3 billion in assets. Major investors include public retirement and pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, and other private equity firms.

Another San Francisco-based PE company that has invested in music rights, is Francisco Partners Management. Francisco Partners had US $45.0 billion AUM by the end of March 2024. Francisco Partners was the lead investor of a consortium, which bought a 90 per cent stake for US $750 million in the Swedish Kobalt Music Group, consisting of Kobalt Music Publishing and the music collecting society AMRA in September 2022, which accounted for 1.67 per cent of total AUM. Francisco Partners was founded in 1999 by former employees of other PE firms to focus on leveraged buyouts of tech companies in the Silicon Valley.

Another relevant investor in music rights is Providence Equity Partners, which was founded by Jonathan M. Nelson 1989 in Providence, Rhode Island in the US. Providence Equity Partners focuses its investments on media, communications, education, and information technologies. In July 2024, Providence Equity Partners had US $24.6 billion AUM. In 2019, Providence partnered with major music company Warner Music Group to form Tempo Music to acquire music publishing as well as recording catalogues. Providence provided US $650 million in equity and debt and Warner acquired a small minority stake in the joint venture focusing on the administration of the publishing and recorded music assets bought by the fund. In February 2025, Warner Music Group bought a majority stake in Tempo Music for US $450 million from Providence, which still holds a minority stake.

Northleaf Capital, a Toronto-based private equity company, has a long history dating back to 1969 when it was founded as TD Capital. Initially part of TD Bank Financial Group, it became an independent entity in 2009. Northleaf focuses on direct investments in infrastructure and small to medium-sized companies in OECD countries. In 2016, it expanded into private credit, offering loans to mid-market companies. By 2023, Northleaf managed US $25 billion in funds and private credit programs from 275 institutional and individual investors.

Northleaf’s investments in music rights are part of its private credit business, described as niche investments with low correlation to capital market trends. These investments include music royalty streams, financial claims in pending court cases, and factoring deals. Northleaf’s portfolio includes companies like Cutting Edge Group, Duetti, and Crescendo Royalty Funding. Notable deals include a US $500 million debt refinancing for Cutting Edge Group, a US $75 million credit facility for Duetti, and a US $303.8 million asset-backed securities issuance through Crescendo Royalty Funding, backed by music rights from Spirit Music Group. The London-based Blantyre Capital, which was founded as a PE company in 2016, invested US $125 million in Cutting Edge Media Music in 2022. Since its inception Blantyre made more than 70 investments worth EUR 2.4 billion in the mid-market with a focus on European countries. Compared to the usual investments, which range from EUR 15 to 100 million, the Cutting Edge investment was exceptional high and accounts for more than 5 per cent of the overall investments since 2016. Unlike typical leveraged buyouts, Cutting Edge was a traditional M&A deal, with the aim of creating a revenue platform. The latest investments by Blantyre Capital were the leveraged buyouts of the Spanish catering and home food delivery

All parts of the series “Follow the Money! Big Capital in the Music Rights Market”

Part 1: A Short History

Part 2: The Investment Giants

Part 3: Shamrock Capital Advisors

Part 4: The Business Model of Private Equity Firms

Part 5: The Securization of Music Rights

Endnotes

BlackRock Inc., 2024, BlackRock 2023 Annual Report, p. 33.

Carey David & John E. Morris, 2012, King of Capital. The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone, New York: Currency, p. 59.

Ibid., p. 124.

CNN Money, “Here come the IPOs. An onslaught of company debuts in coming days after week of high-flyers”, September 26, 1999, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Billboard, “Primary Wave’s CEO Explains a New $300 Million BlackRock Partnership, Getting Smokey Robinson a Sneaker Deal”, September 26, 2016, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “BlackRock to buy Quellos fund of funds business”, August 9, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Primary Wave press release, “Just Announced: Strategic Partnerships with Brookfield Asset Management and CAA!“, October 6, 2022, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Variety, “Enrique Iglesias Sells Music Catalog to Influence Media in Reported Nine-Figure Deal”, December 6, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

BlackRock press release, “BlackRock to Acquire HPS Investment Partners to Deliver Integrated Solutions Across Public and Private Markets”, December 3, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Carey & Morris, 2012, King of Capital, p. 45.

New York Times, “Company News; Vivendi Finishes Sale of Houghton Mifflin to Investors”, January 1, 2002, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Company News; Blackstone Buys Majority Stake in Columbia House”, May 14, 2002, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Blackstone to Buy Hilton Hotels for $26 Billion”, July 7, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Blackstone Founders Prepare to Count Their Billions”, June 12, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Blackstone, 2024, Annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, p. 98.

Billboard, “Was Blackstone’s SESAC Acquisition a $1 Billion Deal?”, January 6, 2017, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Venture capital is a form of private equity and a type of financing for startup companies and small businesses with long-term growth potential; see Investopia, “What Is Venture Capital? Definition, Pros, Cons, and How It Works”, October 18, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Japan Hana Real Estate, “Blackstone Buys $1B Japan Portfolio from PAG”, December 6, 2020, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Blackstone press release, “HH Global Announces Agreement by Blackstone to make a £100m Strategic Minority Equity Investment”, December 3, 2020, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Pitchbook, “Blackstone Core Equity Partners”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Advisors, 2024, Brochure of Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Advisors L.L.C., Form ADV, Part 2A, submitted to Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2024.

Pitchbook, “Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund I”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Music Business Worldwide, “New Mountain Capital-led group closes acquisition of BMI”, February 8, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Financial Times, “Dealmaker Steven Klinsky Quietly Hits Home Runs Away from ’80s Limelight”, June 30, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

AUM 13F, “New Mountain Capital LLC”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Ex-Drexel Executives Arrange Aid for Fruit of the Loom”, August 24, 1990, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Apollo History, “Apollo expands into real estate”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Ibid.

New York Times, “Mine Company Sells U.S. Unit”, April 12, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “Apollo chief says sold nine percent of firm to Abu Dhabi”, November 8, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “Apollo’s upsized IPO raises $565.4 million”, March 30, 2011, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “McGraw-Hill to Sell Education Unit to Apollo for $2.5 Billion”, November 26, 2012, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Variety, “21st Century Fox and Apollo Seal Deal to Merge Shine, Endemol and Core”, October 10, 2014, accessed: 2025-05-28.

CNET, “Yahoo has a new owner, again”, September 1, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

CNBC, “Apollo Global to buy annuities provider Athene in $11 billion deal”, March 8, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Here. Come. The. Giants.”, October 7, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “HarbourView ups credit facility capacity by $100m to buy more music rights”, December 5, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Strap in. Blackstone is ready to bid $1.5 billion for Hipgnosis Songs Fund”, April 20, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Apollo leads $700m investment into Sony Music Group partnership. (It’s a kind of magic!)”, July 26, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Burroughs, Bryan and John Helyar, 1989, Barbarian at the Gates. The Fall of RJR Nabisco, New York: Harper & Row. The screenplay adaptation was written by Larry Gelbart and directed by Glenn Jordan.

New York Times, “Safeway Buyout: A Success Story”, October 21, 1988, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Kohlberg Kravis Set to Offer $1.2 Billion for Cable Maker”, January 24, 1997, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Siemens Unit Is Sold”, October 23, 1999, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Three Firms Are Said to Buy Toys ‘R’ Us for $6 Billion”, March 17, 2005, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Bloomberg, “Capital Firms Agree to Buy SunGard Data in Cash Deal”, March 29, 2005, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “KKR, Texas Pacific-led group to buy TXU Corp.”, August 9, 2007, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “KKR makes first retail real-estate investment”, April 19, 2012, accessed: 2025-05-28.

The Hollywood Reporter, “Private Equity Giant KKR Buys Herbert Kloiber’s Tele Munchen Group”, February 21, 2019, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “KKR becomes Axel Springer’s biggest shareholder”, August 26, 2019, accessed: 2025-05-28.

CNN Business, “After trying for three years, Paramount finally unloads Simon & Schuster for $1.6 billion”, August 7, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Billboard, “EU clears Bertelsmann, KKR music rights JV“, September 9, 2009, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Billboard, “Bertelsmann Buys Out BMG for $390M“, March 1, 2013, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “KKR buys majority stake in Ryan Tedder catalog, marking investment giant’s return to music rights ownership“, January 11, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

A distressed debt fund invests in obligations of companies that have filed for bankruptcy or are very likely to file for bankruptcy in the near future, which bears a high default risk, but with the change of extremely high potential returns. See Investopia, “Why Hedge Funds Love Investing in Distressed Debt”, June 16, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Pitchbook, “KKR Dislocation Opportunities Fund”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Confirmed: Kobalt sells catalog to new KKR venture, Chord, for $1.1 billion”, October 19, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “BMG and KKR are ready to spend $1bn on music copyrights – and that’s just for starters …“, April 6, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “3 observations on… Universal Music Group’s $240m bet on Chord Music (and the real story, Dundee Partners)”, February 20, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

The Carlyle Group Ltd., 2024, Annual report of The Carlyle Group for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, p. 7.

New York Times, “Military Contractor Sold to Buyout Firm”, August 27, 1997, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Los Angeles Times, “Qwest to Sell Directories Business for $7 Billion”, August 20, 2002, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “Ford Completes Sale of Hertz to 3 Firms”, September 13, 2005, accessed: 2025-05-28.

The MBS Group News, “Carlyle buys 50% stake in skate brand Supreme”, October 9, 2017, accessed: 2025-05-28.

The Wall Street Journal, “Carlyle Prices IPO at Lower Range”, May 2, 2012, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Keith Urban sells recordings catalog to $500m-backed Litmus Music”, December 13, 2022, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Pitchbook, “Carlyle Credit Opportunities Fund II”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “$500m-backed Litmus Music acquires music rights from Benny Blanco”, June 28, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Katy Perry sells music rights to Litmus Music in $220m+ deal”, September 18, 2023, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Litmus Music acquires Opus, owner of Juice WRLD and Maluma rights, after extending credit facility to $400m”, September 4, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Carlyle-backed Litmus Music buys Randy Newman’s publishing, recorded music interests”, October 17, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

International Directory of Company Histories, 2005, Brascan Corporation History, vol.67. St. James Press, accessed: 2025-05-28.

The Globe and Mail, “What’s in a name? Plenty if it’s Brascan”, September 16, 2005, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “Brookfield Business Partners to buy Westinghouse for $4.6 billion”, January 4, 2018, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Reuters, “Brookfield to buy most of Oaktree to build juggernaut to rival Blackstone”, March 14, 2019, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., 2024, Annual report of Brookfield Asset Management for the financial year ending December 31, 2023, p. 156.

Brookfield Corporation press release, “Brookfield Corporation Successfully Completes Distribution of 25% Interest in its Asset Management Business”, December 9, 2022, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Primary Wave raises $375m investment from Oaktree Capital, sells minority stake“, June 11, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

DWS Group, Geschäftsbericht 2023, p. 6.

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website, “DWS International GmbH”, January 14, 2025, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Irving Azoff’s GMR just struck a $3.3 billion private equity deal, say MBW sources”, September 19, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

See Hellman & Friedman, “Portfolio”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Pitchbook, “Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners XI”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website, “Francisco Partners Management L.P.”, May 28, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Kobalt Music Group sold to US-based private equity firm Francisco Partners”, September 7, 2022, accessed: 2025-05-28.

New York Times, “They’re Just a Bunch of Regular Media Moguls”, September 14, 2003, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website, “Providence Equity Partners LLC”, July 26, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Confirmed: Warner buys majority stake in Tempo (just as MBW told you it would)”, February 6, 2025, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Northleaf Capital Partners, “History & Key Milestones”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

Ibid.

Music Business Worldwide, “Cutting Edge Group secures $500m to fund music rights acquisitions”, April 15, 2024, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Another massive music deal, as Spirit Music Group parent strikes $500m alliance with Northleaf Capital Partners”, October 14, 2021, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Music Business Worldwide, “Cutting Edge and Blantyre Capital commit $125m to acquire film and TV music rights”, January 4, 2022, accessed: 2025-05-28.

Blantyre, “Who We Are”, and “Investment Portfolio”, n.d., accessed: 2025-05-28.

* This blog post is based on the report IP Finance in the Music Industry, which was commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Rights Organization (WIPO).