Good morning, Nina Lindholm here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. Music is in the spotlight today, after the latest music rights deal by Pophouse. The Stockholm-based investment firm announced yesterday that it has agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in the publishing and master music rights of Australian singer-songwriter Sia.
We also delve into our previous music rights coverage. In today’s They Said It, we look at corporate carve-outs in the consumer segment with commentary from Matt Leeds, founder and managing partner at Forward Consumer Partners. Show business Music is an “exceptionally active” market, Josh Love, a partner in law firm Reed Smith’s global entertainment and media industry group, told my colleague Iris Dorbian in August.
Given the increased competition for dealflow in the segment, Reed Smith sees the “net being cast much wider than ever before,” Love told Iris. “There are buyers pursuing iconic catalogs, others focused on lower mid-market opportunities, and others targeting small deals that wouldn’t have traded in the past. Everybody has a different investment thesis.” We saw another music deal yesterday, with Pophouse announcing its agreement to acquire a 50 percent stake in the publishing and master music rights of Sia. The investment is made through Pophouse Fund I, the firm’s debut fund.
The fund closed in March 2025 at its hard-cap of €1 billion, and Pophouse raised more than €200 million more through dedicated co-investment vehicles. Sia has received nine Grammy nominations, and her songs have been streamed billions of times. Her catalog includes Unstoppable, Chandelier, Elastic Heart and Cheap Thrills.
Pophouse will help Sia develop new creative ventures and will work with her on projects in a range of formats to bring her music to new audiences. “Few artists have shaped modern pop as profoundly as Sia, whose songwriting and unmistakable voice have defined some of the most iconic records of the past few decades,” said Shahriar Shokofan, fund partner at Pophouse, in a statement. He said the firm shares Sia’s ambition “to support the continued growth of her catalogue and to unlock new audiences around the world.” The deal is Pophouse’s third artist partnership of 2026. In July, the firm bought a stake in the publishing and master music rights of Iron Maiden, along with the band’s name, image and likeness rights.
In March, it took a majority stake in Tina Turner’s music interests. Its portfolio also includes partnerships with Cyndi Lauper, KISS, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia. For a deep dive into the firm’s acquisition of Tina Turner’s catalog, check out Iris’s story exploring the complexities of preserving her legacy.
Carve-outs have been popular a deal type of late as companies look to divest non-core units due to macroeconomic uncertainty. This week, my colleague Rafael Canton looked into carve-outs in the consumer segment, where private equity is looking for value in companies’ lower-priority brands.
Источник: PE Hub · Сводку подготовил HeadlinesBriefing