SESAC sale

Singapore’s The Atrium@Orchard, where Temasek is headquartered. The state-owned investment firm is said to be exploring the possible purchase of SESAC. Photo Credit: Terence Ong

Closer to January’s start, reports indicated that Blackstone was exploring the possible sale of SESAC. Now, new details are emerging about the PRO’s massive price tag.

Those details entered the media spotlight in a Bloomberg report, which Singaporean outlets like The Business Times also ran. Prior to these price- and buyer-related rumblings, concrete specifics about the potential SESAC selloff were few and far between.

In short, though, Blackstone reportedly began entertaining private equity offers for SESAC after Hellman & Friedman took a majority stake in Global Music Rights (GMR) late last year. (Private equities are reportedly in talks to buy Vivid Seats as well, and Wise Music just recently sold its education division to Achieve Partners.)

Furthermore, the exact assets at hand were unclear out of the gate; SESAC Music Group’s portfolio includes Audiam and the Harry Fox Agency, to name only a couple.

But with Bloomberg claiming that Blackstone “expects to fetch $3 billion or more” for SESAC, logic suggests that the potential sale would be all-encompassing.

As things stand, the Hipgnosis owner Blackstone and the reported SESAC bidders have yet to comment publicly on the eye-watering price – the rather conspicuous media disclosure of which could, of course, be part of an effort to fuel offers and demand.

In any event, Apollo Global Management, Warburg Pincus, and Temasek Holdings are said to have expressed interest in SESAC.

Perhaps the most noteworthy of those reported bidders is Singapore’s state-owned Temasek. As mentioned, The Business Times and other Singaporean outlets promptly covered SESAC’s reported $3 billion cost (and Temasek’s reported talks with Blackstone).

Bigger picture, SESAC’s possible sale would follow New York-based New Mountain Capital’s buyout (unveiled in 2023 and formally closed last year) of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).

Stated differently, private equity interest in the performance rights space is hardly confined to SESAC or the above-highlighted prospective purchasers. And the remaining U.S. PRO, ASCAP, hasn’t hesitated to emphasize as much.

Yesterday, ASCAP announced plans to distribute a total of $1 million to members “who have suffered loss or damage to their primary residence or studio, or been evacuated from their homes as a result of the LA fires.”

In the same release, the entity reiterated its status as “the only performing rights organization in the U.S. that operates on a not-for-profit basis.”