The music rights portfolio of Kobalt Capital was purchased for $1.1 billion by KKR & Co and former Goldman Sachs partner Stephen Hendel’s family office, the company announced on Tuesday.
According to the firms, the acquisition will offer KKR and Dundee Partners access to more than 62,000 copyrights held by musicians in pop, rock, hip hop, country, and other genres.
Paul McCartney, Enrique Iglesias, and Phoebe Bridgers are among the 25,000 songwriters and 600 publishers served by Kobalt Music.
The transaction is another sign of private equity firms’ growing interest in the music business. As online streaming grows in popularity and profitability, asset manager Blackstone Inc announced this week that it would invest $1 billion with an advisory group to buy music rights and create songs.
