Apparently, the third time really can be the charm, as sources say Influence Media Partners has emerged as the winner in the auction for the music assets of Anthem Entertainment, the Canadian music firm that houses music publishing assets and recorded masters royalties from the likes of Rush and Timbaland.
While two earlier efforts to sell the firm in 2017 and 2022 came up short, sources suggest that in the third go-round, the successful Goldman Sachs-shopped deal saw at least two bids come in above the $600 million mark, even though most other bidders were said to be in the $500 million to $600 million range before dropping out. In all, sources suggested that about a dozen suitors kicked the tires on Anthem.
While Billboard was unable to determine both of the bidders that came in with bids above $600 million, sources say that Influence Media, backed by BlackRock, bid slightly above $650 million and has signed a deal to buy the company’s music assets, although it has yet to close.
Influence Media, founded in 2019 and initially backed by Warner Music Group before adding BlackRock as its main funding source, has invested in the catalogs of such artists as Blake Shelton, Future, Julia Michaels, Enrique Iglesias and DJ Khaled.
In addition to the music publishing catalogs and its master recordings portfolio, along the way, Anthem also acquired the Sony Pictures Entertainment publishing catalog, which includes music from the Spider-Man and Men in Black franchises, among other movies and hit TV shows. It also owns Compact Media, a TV, film and audiovisual secondary rights administration company. While Influence Media is buying the music assets, sources say Compact Media is not a part of the deal, nor is the Anthem Entertainment platform. Of the Anthem music assets being sold to Influence Media/BlackRock, sources suggest that its revenue breaks out to about 50% publishing, 20% from passive artist royalties and 30% from the film and TV components of the catalog.
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Besides what some investors view as unconventional music assets, i.e. the Sony Pictures Entertainment catalog (which usually trades at a lower multiple than artists and songwriter assets), there is yet another wrinkle that needs to be surmounted for a potential deal to buy the Canadian firm, as the acquisition will face scrutiny from the Canadian regulatory agency, Canadian Heritage. Sources suggest that Canadian Heritage is even more bureaucratic than the EU, which could translate into a more arduous and time-consuming process, especially when, aside from the Canadian company itself, some of the assets in the portfolio include the country’s cultural jewels, including the Rush catalog. Consequently, sources say the deal carries a breakup fee that the Influence Media side of the agreement would bear if the deal doesn’t happen.
Anthem, previously known as ole, was said to be generating $70 million in net publisher’s (NPS) and net label share (NLS) back in 2022. But after spinning off the production music component of its catalog — i.e. the portfolios of Jingle Punks, 5 Alarm Music and Cavendish Music, all sold to Slipstream in 2024 — earlier this year sources suggested to Billboard that nowadays, NPS and NLS was in the $45 million to $50 million range annually.
At the high end of that range, that suggests the deal is carrying roughly a blended 13-times multiple, while at the lower end it would come in at about a 15-times multiple. So while the prior auctions failed to get a price that met the expectations of the main owner of Anthem and its catalog — Ontario Teachers Pension Plan — it looks like the fund will finally be cashing out.
Anthem Entertainment, Influence Media, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs all declined to comment.
Elizabeth Dilts Marshall provided reporting assistance in preparing this story.
