Hipgnosis Songs Fund has announced the results of its equity raise in which it successfully raised total gross proceeds of £190 million in 72 hours. The equity was raised at 116p per share. Gross proceeds from the placing were approximately £186.4 million and gross proceeds from the PrimaryBid Offer were £3.6 million. The 163,793,103 Ordinary Shares that were issued in relation to the capital raise were admitted to trading at 8.00 a.m. on 25 September 2020. Following Admission, the Company has 797,254,294 Ordinary Shares and 236,400,512 C Shares in issue.
Comments from Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and The Family (Music) Limited
“To raise £190 million in 72 hours and £420 million in two months during a pandemic is the greatest endorsement from the investment community for Hipgnosis and proven songs as an asset class. The uncorrelated returns songs provide have been very important to our shareholders during these difficult times and have only reinforced the belief in our thesis which has now become reality. We have made a tremendous impact on the songwriting community through our acquisitions and by pushing the agenda to improve the songwriter’s position in the economic equation. This has helped make us the buyer and custodian of choice amongst songwriters who are constantly providing us with exciting opportunities for pipeline. We will carry on with the course we have set for the last two plus years that has made us a FTSE 250 company. We will deploy quickly in the finest songs, we will actively manage them better than before and provide our great investors with a strong return all the while pushing forward the agenda of the songwriter.”
Skin in the game
The following Directors, as well as Merck Mercuriadis (Founder of Hipgnosis and CEO of the Investment Adviser, The Family (Music) Limited) and Chris Helm (CFO of the Investment Adviser) have subscribed for new Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Placing as outlined below:
| Director/Investment Adviser | No. of Ordinary Shares being subscribed pursuant to the Placing | Resulting holding of Ordinary Shares | Existing holding of C Shares | Total number of Ordinary Shares and C Shares |
| Andrew Wilkinson | 13,000 | 64,462 | 7,500 | 71,962 |
| Simon Holden | 36,000 | 100,796 | 0 | 100,796 |
| Merck Mercuriadis1 | 100,000 | 444,392 | 0 | 444,392 |
| Chris Helm | 8,620 | 18,758 | 0 | 18,758 |
1 Including shares owned by The Family (Music) Limited