Global investment firm KKR has acquired a minority stake in BookMyShow, one of India’s largest entertainment companies, to support the company’s next phase of growth in live entertainment.
KKR’s BookMyShow investment#
Funds managed by KKR made the investment, which is intended to help BookMyShow scale and deepen its offerings in India. Over the past few years, BookMyShow Live, the company’s live entertainment experiential division, has brought several international acts to the Indian market, including:
- Lollapalooza India
- U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour
- Coldplay
- Ed Sheeran
- Travis Scott
- Linkin’ Park
- John Mayer
- Guns N’ Roses
- Post Malone
- Def Leppard
- Justin Bieber
“BookMyShow has been a pioneer in delivering high-quality entertainment experiences in India. We are pleased to support BookMyShow as it continues to lead the next phase of growth in India’s out-of-home entertainment sector,” said Akshay Tanna, KKR partner and head of India private equity. “We believe BookMyShow will play an important role in advancing India’s ambition to become a global entertainment hub and a premier destination for leading artists and acts from around the world.”
Ashish Hemrajani, BookMyShow founder and CEO, said KKR’s “global perspective, deep expertise and strong understanding of consumer businesses will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of our journey.”
“The timing of this investment is particularly exciting, as we have significantly expanded our presence across the live entertainment landscape and are seeing the opportunity for India’s entertainment economy grow like never before.”
BookMyShow adds to KKR’s global portfolio of media and entertainment investments, which includes:
- Internet Brands
- ByteDance
- Chord Music Partners
- Epic Games
- PlayOnSports
- OverDrive
- Superstruct
- Simon & Schuster
BookMyShow also counts Network18 (part of Reliance Industries Limited), Accel Partners, Elevation Capital, Stripes Group, and TPG as longstanding investors.
Curve Royalty Systems acquisition completed#
Jamen Capital and Merlin have completed their acquisition of Curve Royalty Systems, a provider of royalty processing services to the music business, from Virgin Music Group. The transaction received final approval from the European Commission and was first announced in June.
Curve’s leadership, team, brand, products, services and clients remain the same following the deal.
“Completing this transaction gives Curve the independence, stability and backing we need for the next stage of our development,” said Richard Leach, CEO of Curve Royalty Systems. “For our clients, it is very much business as usual: the same team, products, service and commitment to protecting their data and interests. What changes is our ability to invest more ambitiously in the future.”
The sale of Curve was a condition of European regulators’ approval of Virgin’s acquisition of Downtown Music, Curve’s previous owner. Regulators were concerned that by taking ownership of Curve, which processes royalties for many competitors of Virgin’s parent company Universal Music Group (UMG), UMG would have unfair visibility into rival companies’ financial data.
Curve’s clients include:
- Armada
- Defected
- Epitaph
- Exceleration
- Reservoir
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
- Virgin Music Group
- Netflix
- BBC/Demon
