HarbourView Equity Partners, led by Billboard Power 100 Woman, Sherrese Clarke Soares, has secured approximately $500 million in debt financing through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties. This move signifies a significant transaction in the music industry’s M&A space, with investment giant KKR leading the debt financing.
KKR’s involvement in the debt financing follows its recent sale of a majority stake in Chord Music Partners and Universal Music Group’s acquisition of a minority interest in Chord. KKR’s participation underscores its Asset-Based Finance (ABF) strategy, focusing on privately originated and negotiated credit investments backed by large and diversified pools of assets.
Avi Korn and Chris Mellia, Co-Heads of U.S. Asset-Based Finance at KKR, expressed enthusiasm about the transaction on Wednesday saying the deal saying“Music IP is one of many areas where we see opportunity and we are pleased to finance a scaled and high-quality portfolio in this space.”
Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as the sole structuring advisor, with Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Barclays acting as co-placement agents for the HarbourView financing transaction. This financing follows HarbourView’s $300 million credit facility expansion announced in December 2023.
Established in 2021 by Clarke Soares who is a second generation Jamaican, with backing from Apollo Global Management, HarbourView Equity Partners got its name from a community in Kingston where Soares’ family originated. The company has amassed approximately $1.6 billion in regulatory managed assets and has acquired over 50 catalogs to date, including shares of royalties from artists like Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo, Wiz Khalifa, Nelly, Lady A, Brad Paisley and spent a reported $100 million for the rights to Luis Fonsi‘s catalog which includes YouTube’s most streamed song “Despacito.”
Expressing gratitude to KKR for their collaboration in delivering a flexible and innovative financing structure to support HarbourView’s expansion Sherrese Clarke Soares said, “We are grateful to KKR for working with us to deliver a flexible and innovative financing structure that will support HarbourView in expanding its reach.”
She reiterated the company’s mission to invest in premier intellectual property while ensuring fair valuation for creators.
“This capital will allow us to further our mission of investing in assets and companies driven by premier intellectual property while striving to ensure that creators are appropriately valued for their contributions to the world,” Soares said.
