The Canadian music executive is selling his U.K.-listed firm—which operates a portfolio of royalties from artists including Neil Young, Dua Lipa and Justin Bieber—to Concord Chorus, a music and theatrical rights firm. (The Logic)

Talking point: The sale comes after a turbulent period for Hipgnosis, which was forced to sell US$465 million of its song portfolio last year in response to a shareholder revolt. The sale comes as shares of Mercuriadis’s firm—a big player in the music rights buying spree that started during the pandemic—struggled to recover after taking a sharp dive starting in 2022. The company launched a strategic review in 2023 to seek a possible sale, and by late last year its valuation had dipped to US$1.70 per share, down nearly 10 per cent from six months earlier. Hipgnosis’s stock leapt more than 30 per cent on the London Stock Exchange following news of Concord’s proposed acquisition, which values the company’s shares at US$1.16 apiece.