2 minutes ago
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Up 31% After Closing $1.4 Billion Sale
Nile Rodgers of Nile Rodgers & Chic performs at Harvest Rock 2023 on October 28, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia.
Marc Grimwade | Wireframe | Getty Images
Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a London-listed music intellectual property investment company founded by Merck Mercuriadis and Nile Rodgers in 2018, announced on Thursday that its board of directors had recommended a sale to music rights investor Concord, valuing the $1.4 billion company.
Shares in the FTSE 250 component were up 31% as of 8.30am UK time on Thursday.
Hipgnosis acquired the rights to songs from A-list artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mark Ronson, Shakira, Neil Young and Blondie, but was mired in financial reporting problems, while its operating loss before taxes widened in 2023 to reach $86.63 million.
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Hilgnosis Songs Fund share price.
The valuation equates to £0.932 ($1.16) per share, a 32.2% premium to Wednesday’s closing price. Financing for the operation will be supported by Apollo Capital Management, the American private equity giant and partner of Concord.
In a statement, the companies said Concord had “a proven track record of strategic acquisitions and catalog expansion” and that “rights-bound creators” would benefit from the deal.
He also said that to achieve a “significant improvement in share price”, the company needed “substantial financial and governance changes to improve its financial performance”.
-Jenni Reid
An hour ago
European stocks open slightly higher
European stocks were cautiously higher early Thursday, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.25% at 8:13 a.m. in London and sectors trading mixed.
Major stock markets rose, with France’s CAC 40 up 0.5%, Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.5% and Germany’s DAX up 0.3%.
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Stoxx 600 index.
An hour ago
Sterling continues to advance after inflation data
Sterling was higher against the U.S. dollar and euro on Thursday morning, extending Wednesday’s gains on higher-than-expected U.K. inflation data that caused the market to anticipate a more interest rate cut. late in the year.
Sterling was up 0.27% against the greenback at $1.248 at 7:30 a.m. in London, and 0.1% against the euro at 1.167.
-Jenni Reid
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ABB, Nokia results
The first-quarter earnings season is starting to pick up pace in Europe, with reports released Thursday from Swiss engineering firm ABB and telecommunications giant Nokia.
ABB reported flat revenue for the period of $7.87 billion and an 11% rise in operating profit to $1.41 billion, above expectations.
Finnish Nokia Group failed to meet market expectations for operating profit, according to Reuters, with its net revenue falling 19%.
-Jenni Reid
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Oil falls more than 3% despite the risk of war: “Peace may have ended, but the oil continues to flow”
Crude oil futures fell more than 3% on Wednesday as the market discounted the risk of a broader war between Israel and Iran that could disrupt supplies.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery lost $2.76, or 3.23%, to $82.60 a barrel. June Brent crude futures were down $2.87, or 3.19%, at $87.15 a barrel. US oil and the global benchmark are down more than 3.5% for the week.
“Theories that tensions between Iran and Israel would disrupt oil supplies have fizzled,” said Manish Raj, managing director of Velandera Energy Partners. “Peace may have ended, but the oil continues to flow,” he said.
-Spencer Kimball
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Morgan Stanley, HSBC cut investment banking jobs in Asia this week: Reuters
Morgan Stanley and HSBC are cutting dozens of investment banking jobs in the Asia-Pacific region this week, according to a Reuters report.
Citing sources, Reuters said it comes as the two banks step up cost cuts, with slowing trading and slowing markets in China and Hong Kong weighing on business prospects.
Morgan Stanley is cutting at least 50 investment banking jobs in the region starting this week, according to the report, affecting about 13% of its 400 investment banking employees in Asia.
HSBC reportedly began making layoffs on Tuesday and around 30 traders are expected to leave the company.
-Lim Hui Jie
8 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Many Analysts Cut Their Price Targets on These 10 Stocks Ahead of Earnings
Analysts have lowered their expectations on several global stocks this week by lowering their price targets.
The price target changes come ahead of the upcoming earnings season covering the first quarter of this year.
CNBC Pro selected global stocks from the MSCI World Index that have had their price target revised down in the last seven days and have not yet released their results.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more about the 10 stocks here.
-Ganesh Rao
4 hours ago
European markets: here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to open mixed on Thursday.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 17 points higher at 7,872, Germany’s DAX up 5 points at 17,789, France’s CAC down 10 points at 7,983 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 8 points to 32,963, according to IG data.
Profits are expected to come from Nokia, Easyjet and ABB. The data released includes new European car registration figures for March.
—Houx Ellyatt