Concord Poised to Increase Hipgnosis Bid to Top Blackstone

(Bloomberg) -- Music rights investor Concord increased its takeover bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd. to $1.51 billion, trumping a rival proposal from Blackstone Inc.

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Concord has agreed to acquire London-listed Hipgnosis for $1.25 a share, it said in a regulatory filing Wednesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. That’s up from its previously agreed bid of $1.16 per share. Hipgnosis said its board continues to unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favor of the Concord deal.

The revised bid from Nashville-backed Concord, which is backed by Apollo Global Management Inc., is just above Blackstone’s latest proposal of $1.24 per share. It represents a 43% premium to Hipgnosis’ closing price on the last trading day before Concord’s earlier offer was announced.

Blackstone said in a statement Thursday that it’s considering its options and that a further announcement will be made “in due course,” urging shareholders to take no action after Concord’s sweetened bid.

In a filing on Thursday, Concord said Hipgnosis holder CCLA Investment Management Ltd. agreed to sell its approximately 4.8% stake to Concord for $1.25 per share. CCLA previously had committed to vote those shares in favor of the Concord bid.

After that sale, Concord has commitments — so-called irrevocable undertakings — from holders of about 21% of Hipgnosis’s shares to agree to the Concord deal. According to Wednesday’s statement, a competing offer would need to be at least 10% above the value of Concord’s latest bid for most of those holders to be able to consider it.

Hipgnosis owns song catalogs from Blondie, the Kaiser Chiefs and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is advising Concord on the deal, while Hipgnosis is working with Singer Capital Markets and Shot Tower Capital.

The shares rose as much as 1.8% in early trading in London.

--With assistance from Dinesh Nair and Beth Mellor.

(Adds Blackstone response, CCLA stake from fourth paragraph.)

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