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Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Investment firm acquires Concord Music Group
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 26 March 2013
US-based independent Concord Music Group has new owners in the form of Wood Creek Capital Management.
Concord confirmed it was looking for a buyer late last year, seemingly after existing owner Village Roadshow Entertainment Group agreed with the music company’s management team that a change of ownership was desirable to enable the label’s expansion ambitions, something Village Roadshow wasn’t in a position to fund.
Despite rumours that Simon Fuller might bid for Concord (and merge it with former EMI division Parlophone, which at the time he was also bidding for, ultimately unsuccessfully), it always seemed more likely that a less dramatic private equity deal would be the outcome, not least because the sale was led by the label’s existing management team who planned to stay in place after any deal.
According to a statement, Wood Creek has led the acquisition in part at the instruction of an investor group that includes some members of Concord’s management team. The firm’s President and CEO, Glen Barros, will continue to lead the company, while current Chairman, Norman Lear, will retain an advisory role as Chairman Emeritus.
Confirming the acquisition, Barros told CMU: “While I’m extremely proud of what Concord has accomplished to date, there’s such an incredibly bright future ahead of us. It was vitally important, therefore, that we find the right investors with whom to continue this exciting journey. And I know that we’ve found the right people with Wood Creek. It’s clear to me that we have compatible values and goals. We also have the human and financial resources necessary to excel and we share a deep commitment to making a great contribution to the future of music”.
