Hipgnosis raises funds and buys Metallica, Michael Bublé rights

Hipgnosis Songs Fund sought to raise more money to buy song rights as it announced a deal for producer royalties on albums by Metallica and Michael Bublé.

The company said it would place new shares with investors for 121p a share - a 1.2% discount to the closing price on 20 January. Hignosis raised more than £400m in 2020 to buy up song catalogues.

Hipgnosis did not disclose how much it intended to raise and said it would use the money to buy further catalogues of song rights in the next three months. The company also announced a dividend of 1.3125p a share for the three months to the end of December.

The company announced the fundraising alongside the purchase of royalties from producer Bob Rock. Hipgnosis has bought 100% of Rock's producer rights for Metallica's self-title fifth LP, whose songs include Enter Sandman, and four albums by Bublé including Christmas and Crazy Love, which features Haven't Met You Yet, co-produced by Rock.

Hipgnosis, led by former Elton John and Beyonce manager Merck Mercuriadis, has been buying song rights as companies jostle to acquire hits made available to listeners with a click via streaming services such as Spotify. It takes payments for sales, radio plays, commercial use and streaming and pays income to investors.

Mercuriadis's purchases include rights to tracks such as Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, Steve Winwood's Higher Love and the Pretenders' Brass in Pocket. The FTSE 250 group does not disclose how much it pays for song rights, leaving investors to trust its negotiating skills.

Rock said: "I put my heart and soul into these recordings. I know how much Merck loves music, so it was an easy deal to put together."

Hipgnosis shares fell 0.3% to 122.20p at 08:45 GMT.