Music label UMG to buy minority stake in Chord Music Partners for $240 million

(Reuters) – Universal Music Group (AS:) on Tuesday said it would buy a 25.8% stake in Chord Music Partners for $240 million in a deal that will see investment company KKR exit from the capital of the music catalogue owner.

KKR will sell its majority stake to a consortium led by Dundee Partners, that will now own 74.2% of Chord, while UMG will own the remaining 25.8%, the world’s biggest music label said in a statement.

UMG added it will enter a long-term partnership with Dundee Partners to manage Chord’s rights and to buy more music rights in the future.

“By combining a best-in-class financial acquisition vehicle with the world’s leading music company, we are creating both a premier platform for music investment as well as a permanent home for premier artists’ legacies and their iconic cultural works,” said Sam Hendel, a co-founder of Chord and Dundee Partners’ managing principal, in the UMG statement.

Chord’s catalogue includes music from The Weeknd, David Guetta, and John Legend, and the deal values it at S$1.85 billion, UMG said in the statement.