DLA Piper advises Concord in closing of US$1 billion in debt financing

DLA Piper represented Concord, a leading independent music company, in a US$600 million term loan B debt offering and US$450 million revolving credit facility, providing the company with access to over US$1 billion of total debt financing in one of the largest music industry financings in recent times.

Concord is an independent, worldwide leader in developing, managing and acquiring sound recordings, music publishing and theatrical performance rights. Over the last five years Concord increased its revenue nearly four-fold, due to organic growth and strategic acquisitions to which it has committed over US$1 billion since 2017, including the acquisition of various genre-defining recorded music and publishing companies such as Musart, Fania, Independiente, Varese Sarabande, Victory Records and Sikorski Music Publishing. Over the past three years, Concord also created an industry-leading theatricals licensing company, Concord Theatricals, by combining The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, which it acquired as part of its industry-transforming acquisition of Imagem in 2017, with the iconic works of Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Tams-Witmark and Samuel French licensing houses.

“We were thrilled to once again partner with Concord on this complex, cross-border financing, which highlights the abilities and experience of our US and UK media, entertainment and leveraged finance practices, as well as our deep understanding of the music and related media industries and our ability to successfully coordinate complex cross-border transactions,” said Robert J. Sherman, co-chair of the firm's Entertainment Finance practice, who led the firm’s deal team.

“I’ve worked with Rob for over 15 years and am always appreciative of the legal and strategic insights he and his team at DLA Piper bring to bear on our most important transactions,” said Bob Valentine, Concord’s CFO. “The tireless efforts of DLA Piper’s global media and entertainment finance and transactional practices exceeded our expectations and were critical to our ability to close this complex, cross-border financing in the midst of the most challenging circumstances.”

In addition to Sherman, the DLA Piper team representing Concord included partners Afshin Beyzaee, Claire Hall (both of Los Angeles) and Jamie Knox (New York), and associates Daniel Zar and Payvand Coyle (both of Los Angeles) in the US, and partners Mark Dwyer, global co-chair of the Financial Services sector, and Ben Brown, legal director Jennifer Jin and associates Melissa Lim and Elizabeth Baek in London.

DLA Piper's market-leading international team of media, sport and entertainment lawyers, located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, advise firm clients on innovative finance, investment, M&A and corporate matters across media sectors, including in the music, film, TV and new media spaces as well as on the resolution of disputes.