Background
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Boosey & Hawkes is one of the world's leading music publishers which owns the rights for more than 116,000 works by the 20th and 21st centuries’ most famous composers including Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff. Britten and Prokofieff.
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HgCapital bought Boosey & Hawkes in 2003 for £75m.
Process and outcome
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Close Brothers Corporate Finance ran a bespoke process involving a small number of carefully selected bidders who were asked to demonstrate the strength of both their financing and strategic interest before being admitted into the process.
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Bidders were given full access to the company and required to commit significant resource to present a fully financed offer.
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This approach ensured that high quality bids were received and delivered a tight, swift process with a high level of competitive tension.
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The successful bidder was backed by ABP, one of a few pension funds looking to invest directly in companies. Because of its demographic – which is people who are wealthier and older – Boosey & Hawkes a perfect match with long-term pension liabilities.
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Against a backdrop of wider economic uncertainty and the potential distraction of another concurrent music publishing sale process, Close Brothers Corporate Finance achieved a headline price of £126m and an EBITDA multiple of 18.5x.
Testimonials
Nick Turner of Hg Capital commented:
“This was a well orchestrated campaign, with a great deal of care and thought put into how to present the business most effectively and how to make the most of the interest we elicited. The Close Brothers Corporate Finance team should take significant credit for the outcome we achieved.”
John Minch, CEO of Boosey & Hawkes said:
“This is an excellent outcome for everyone concerned. Many, many thanks from me and the team for all your immense hard work over the last few months. You have conducted the process with huge professionalism, charm and good humour. And it goes without saying how much value you have added in so many ways.”
Richard Madden, a Managing Director at Close Brothers Corporate Finance, commented:
“It was a pleasure to work with Hg and Boosey & Hawkes on this transaction. The management has done a fantastic job in driving growth from the catalogue and the new owners are perfectly positioned to benefit from the predictable and growing financial benefits of owning this world-class music portfolio.”
For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Richard Madden, Guy Ballantine, Tom Biddle or Nathaniel Cooper on +44 (0)20 7655 3100.