Shoosmiths corporate team advises on $1.4bn takeover

Law firm Shoosmiths is advising Hipgnosis Songs Fund on its $1.4 billion cash takeover offer from US-based music rights owner Concord.

The FTSE listed company and British music royalties fund Hipgnosis owns rights to songs by artists from Beyonce to Neil Young.

Shoosmiths' M&A team continues to be at the forefront of major public to private deals, including having recently advised main market listed Ten Entertainment Group plc on its £287 million takeover by US private equity firm Trive Capital in 2023.

The Shoosmiths deal team is led by corporate partners Nick McCarthy and Andrew Millar, with further support from senior associates Mandeep Vryaparj, Ian Lawton, Olivia King, associate Bruce Fitzpatrick and trainees Olivia Ashcroft, Annalise Leech and Abbie Gray. Commercial advice is being provided by partner Michelle Craven-Faulkner.

Nick McCarthy, public M&A partner at Shoosmiths, commented: “Shoosmiths continues to lead the way on transformative ‘take private’ transactions – our work with Hipgnosis being a prime example of this. Whether advising London Stock Exchange giants or AIM-listed innovators, our expertise shines through, proving that Shoosmiths is the trusted partner for strategic and high-value public M&A transactions.”

Corporate is one of Shoosmiths’ key strategic pillars and the team has been named the most active law firm advising on M&A deals in the UK (according to Experian Market IQ reports). 2023 was s a record-breaking period for the firm’s M&A experts, advising on over £7 billion worth of deals in 2023.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the coming months.