Five months ago, Billboardreported that Opus was up for sale with an asking price north of $200 million. That same report cited sources who said that Opus was working with Raine Group to find a buyer.
It now appears that Litmus Music, launched in 2022 by music industry veterans Hank Forsyth and Dan McCarroll in tandem with Carlyle Global Credit, has emerged as the winning bidder.
The news was confirmed in an update posted this week by Charles Johnson, the Managing Director of the Investment Banking, Media, Telecom and Entertainment Group at Truist Securities.
According to Johnson’s update, Litmus financed its purchase of Opus using proceeds from a $400 million Revolving Credit Facility (upsized from $250 million) – for which Truist served as ‘Left Lead Arranger’ and ‘Lead Bookrunner’ in July.
The update does not confirm the exact value of the deal for Opus.
The update added: “Truist Securities worked closely with existing lenders to meet the timeline of the Opus acquisition closing while introducing new issuer-friendly terms that provide Litmus the flexibility to execute their growth initiatives”.
“Truist Securities worked closely with existing lenders to meet the timeline of the Opus acquisition closing while introducing new issuer-friendly terms that provide Litmus the flexibility to execute their growth initiatives.”
Charles Johnson, Truist
New York-headquartered Opus Music Group was established in 2021 with financial backing from investment firm Elliott Management, which is also based in New York. Opus acquired a large stake in Juice WRLD’s catalog in early 2023 in a reported nine-figure deal.
When New York-based Litmus launched in August 2022, Carlyle Global Credit committed an initial $500 million for the company to focus on acquiring and managing both publishing and recorded music rights.
Litmus Music’s first deal followed in December 2022 in the form of Keith Urban’s master recordings catalog, including ten multi-platinum, platinum or gold-certified studio albums and a greatest hits compilation.
Two additional deals arrived last year. In June (of 2023), Litmus acquired a “portfolio of compositions” from songwriter and producer Benny Blanco, covering what it said are “numerous multi-platinum hits and hundreds of songs”.
And then, in September 2023, Litmus acquired a bundle of rights from KatyPerry in a deal industry sources suggest was worth around $225 million, marking last year’s biggest catalog deal with a single artist.
The deal spanned Perry’s five studio albums recorded for Capitol Records, including the Grammy-nominated Teenage Dream.
Litmus now owns the artist’s stake in her master royalty income and her publishing rights to the albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, PRISM, Witness and Smile – all released between 2008 and 2020. (Universal Music Group continues to own and/or control the master rights to the Capitol albums).
News of Litmus’ upsized credit facility follows a trend in recent months of prominent players in the global music business expanding their credit facilities with financial service providers.
In May, Downtown Music, a division of Downtown Music Holdings,secured another $500 million of credit capacity from Bank of America to expand its services for independent artists and labels.
Downtown said that it initially established its partnership with Bank of America in 2022 with a $200 million credit facility to provide artists and rightsholders with advances in exchange “for a short-term share of future royalties”.
Kobalt, meanwhile, upped its spending power in March to over $1 billion via a $450 million revolving credit facility from a Truist Securities-led “syndicate”.
In December, HarbourView Equity Partners, led by former Tempo Music CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, amended its senior secured credit facility, led by Fifth Third Bank, to buy more music rights. Under the amended facility, HarbourView’s credit facility capacity was increased by $100 million to $300 million (from $200m).
Truist Securities has been particularly active in the music business in recent years.
In addition to its participation in Kobalt’s revolving credit facility in March and Litmus Music’s credit facility in July, Truist served as Left Lead Arranger of a $400 million credit facility secured by Canada’s Anthem Entertainment in March 2021.Music Business Worldwide
