Spirit Music Group now owned by Lyric Capital Group in a $350M deal

Independent publisher Spirit Music Group has announced a recapitalization, for which it has secured over $350 million, led by its COO Jon Singer.

The company is now wholly-owned by the newly formed Lyric Capital Group.

Spirit will be spearheaded by seasoned music executive Jon Singer (pictured main) and Spirit’s Ross Cameron.

Singer will become Chairman of Spirit Music Group and Managing Partner of Lyric while Cameron will continue in an executive role at Spirit and become a Partner at Lyric.

MBW understands that David Renzer has left the company as part of this current deal. Variety reports that Renzer cashed out his minority equity interest in the company.

Spirit’s portfolio consists of over 200 No.1 Billboard hits and over 450 Top 10 songs. Artists include Chicago, Eminem, Sam Hunt, Jay Z, Madonna, Scotty McCreery, Tim McGraw, Elvis Presley, Ed Sheeran, Blake Shelton, Frank Sinatra, Taylor Swift, The Who and Whitney Houston.

Among its most notable songwriters and writer/artists are James Bay, John Barrett, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Big Data, Marc Bolan, T Bone Burnett, Jonny Coffer, Zach Crowell, Rami Dawod, Henry Mancini, Matt & Kim, Johnny McDaid, The Marshall Tucker Band, Graham Nash, John Newman, Rick Nowels, David Paich, Doc Pomus, Frank Rogers, Boz Scaggs, Billy Squier, Pete Townshend, Greg Wattenberg; and the breakthrough work of newer artists including Dagny and Tim Montana.

In addition to managing copyrights, Spirit has earned a strong reputation as an aggressive royalty administrator and promoter of its songs into film, television and advertising productions as well as a wide range of new media.

In recent years, Spirit has helped transform the publisher’s role beyond royalty collection and song promotion to proactive career and legacy partnership by creating and executing marketing plans to revitalize its clients’ songs and expand their brands.

Eaton Partners, a Stifel Company, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Lyric.

Spirit’s previous majority owner was Pegasus Capital Advisors.

Singer said: “There is a powerful shift occurring within the music industry and this new dynamism means that Spirit, with our amazing songwriters, dedicated team and 75,000 songs, is especially well-positioned for growth.

“We are privileged to have major institutional investors on board, providing us with additional capital to grow.

“I am very excited to serve the incredible songwriters that make up the Spirit family during this exciting time.”

Source: Music Business Worldwide