✒ Stevie Nicks sells an 80% stake in her roster of music for about $100 million. Meanwhile, Shamrock Capital Advisors acquired Taylor Swift’s early recording catalog for about $300 million. Then, Bob Dylan’s song catalog was sold to Universal Music Group for an estimated $300 million.
On the one hand, music rights themselves has become increasingly valuable due to the explosion of music streaming services, turning these music catalogs into a recession-proof bet.
On the other hand, Geoff Colvin pointed out that the deal may be motivated as a tax maneuver. Joe Biden has proposed taxing capital gains exceeding $400,000 with a higher rate (currently 20% for capital gain, 37% for ordinary income), tax on a deal like this, and on M&As in general, could almost double if it doesn’t get done by New Year’s Eve.