The struggling owner of music back catalogues ranging from Shakira to the Red Hot Chili Peppers has agreed a $1.6bn (\u00a31.3bn) improved takeover offer from US private equity investor Blackstone.<\/p>\n
Hipgnosis Songs Fund said it was recommending the offer, which trumps a rival $1.4bn bid by US-based royalties fund Concord Music.<\/p>\n
The takeover would mark the end of a turbulent six years for Hipgnosis as a listed company in London. Hipgnosis was founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis, the former manager of acts including Elton John, Iron Maiden, Guns N\u2019 Roses and Beyonc\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mercuriadis used his music industry connections to spend millions on the rights to 138 catalogues with more than 40,000 songs, in the hope that they would provide a steady stream of income that would be attractive to investors. However, the company ran into trouble because of rising interest rates and changes to the valuation of its songs. Investors voted in October against continuing the struggling fund in its then form<\/a>, forcing it to review its options.<\/p>\n Other artist back catalogues owned by Hipgnosis include works by Barry Manilow, Blondie, Enrique Iglesias, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, the Kaiser Chiefs, Neil Young and Nile Rodgers.<\/p>\n