Bieber, Shakira Royalties Back New $372M Bond Sale

Recognition Music Group is selling $372 million in bonds backed by royalties from its multi-billion dollar catalog, which includes recorded music and/or publishing rights from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Justin Bieber to name a few.

The fine print:

• The proceeds will be utilized to repay debts and fund reserves.

• As per Digital Music News, the deal is part of Recognition’s “broader strategy” of digging into the asset-backed securities (ABS) market fueled by music royalties.

• The publication states, “The transaction is structured as a music royalty ABS, with the bonds collateralized by royalties from a catalog valued at just shy of $3 billion.”

• That catalog contains over 47,000 recordings and compositions.

• The news follows the announcement earlier this week of a $1.8 billion ABS by Concord.

Backstory:

• Recognition Music Group was previously known as Hipgnosis, which was founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis.

• It was acquired by Blackstone in 2024 and rebranded.