LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Universal Music Group and Dundee Partners, the investment office of the Hendel family, announced that UMG has agreed to acquire a 25.8% interest in Chord Music Partners, the private equity-backed music rights acquisition venture.
Founded in 2021 by private equity giant KKR and Dundee Partners, Chord Music currently represents a portfolio of music that includes more than 60,000 works, including songs from some of the world’s most recognized songwriters and artists, including The Weeknd, Ryan Tedder/OneRepublic, David Guetta, Lorde, Kid Cudi, Diplo, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Ellie Goulding, ZZ Top, John Legend, and Twenty One Pilots, among others.
As part of the deal, UMG and Dundee Partners will join forces to manage Chord’s rights through UMG’s network and to make further catalog acquisitions. Additionally, Chord’s music publishing rights will be administered through Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and recorded music through UMG’s Virgin Music Group (VMG), the companies said.
Upon completion of UMG’s investment, KKR will exit its ownership stake, with the Dundee consortium and UMG owning 74.2% and 25.8% respectively.
UMG’s investment of US$240 million values Chord at US$1.85 billion.
“Finding partners who share our passion for identifying iconic songs and recordings that will stand the test of time and deliver long-term growth is essential, which is why we’re so pleased to be working with Stephen and Sam Hendel and Dundee Partners. With the leadership of Jody Gerson at UMPG, Nat Pastor and JT Myers at Virgin, and the support of our experienced creative executives around the world, no one can do more with music rights than our teams. We look forward to creating maximum commercial and creative value for the songwriters and artists in Chord and building for the future,” stated UMG chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Universal Music Group and embarking on this next exciting chapter for Chord. 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 artist’s legacies and their iconic cultural works. We’d like to thank the team at KKR for their partnership and creating a strong foundation for Chord and its future success.” added Dundee Partners’ Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Chord Sam Hendel.
