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Warner Music Group & Bain Capital in Talks to Form $1 Billion Joint Venture to Buy Catalogs

Warner Music and Bain Capital are in talks for a $1B joint venture to buy music catalogs, according to three sources with knowledge of the talks.

Led by an equity investment from Bain, the joint venture will enable WMG to write bigger checks while spending less of its own money to acquire the catalogs it wants most. The bidding wars have grown particularly pitched for master recording rights, which are more valuable today because streaming has extended the period that a song remains popular by several years, according to entertainment banking sources. Ryan-Southern’s team was key toWMG’s acquisition of Tempo Music, a $450 million deal announced on Feb. 6 that gives Warner the rights to songs by Wiz Khalifa, Florida Georgia Line and Brett James.

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