The U.K.-listed investment firm, run by Canadian music executive Merck Mercuriadis, is facing pushback from major shareholders over its plan to sell about a fifth of its song portfolio, the Financial Times reported. One of the fund’s 10 largest shareholders said the US$440-million deal, which would sell the music rights to a private sister fund owned by Blackstone, undervalues the assets. (Financial Times)

Talking point: Despite growing revenues from streaming sales, Hipgnosis’s stock price has performed poorly. The company’s market cap was less than half the value of its assets as of July, leaving it unable to raise equity to buy new song rights. It proposed selling a portion of its portfolio to pay off debt and fund a share buyback program to help narrow the gap between its share price and net asset value. Shareholders also expressed concern about lack of transparency with the sale process to Blackstone, saying it favoured the alternative asset manager. Hipgnosis is facing a vote this month over whether to liquidate or continue for another five years.