Apollo Global Management has provided a US $1.25 billion equity investment tied to BMG, the music company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, and Berlin, Germany, allowing BMG to repay debt secured against the Concord catalog.
The transaction was announced on Thursday, September 17, a little over two weeks after BMG and Concord completed their merger on September 1, forming a combined company that operates under the BMG brand.
Deal structure and ownership#
Apollo-managed funds and affiliates have acquired what Apollo describes as a “noncontrolling interest” in a BMG subsidiary that holds the legacy Concord asset-backed securities (ABS), backed by a catalog of more than 1 million songs.
Concord has spent the past four years raising money by issuing bonds secured against royalty income from its songs and recordings. Those ABS now sit with the combined company following the merger close, and Apollo’s cash allows BMG to pay some of them off.
In exchange, Apollo holds a minority position in the subsidiary that holds those bonds, but not a stake in the BMG parent company itself. The structure aligns with Apollo Partner Jamshid Ehsani‘s description of the investment as “non-dilutive”: Bertelsmann‘s 67% ownership of BMG and the 33% held by affiliates of Great Mountain Partners are unchanged.
Jamshid Ehsani, Partner at Apollo, said:
“We are pleased to support the transformative combination of BMG and Concord through a tailored, non-dilutive equity investment that strengthens the combined company’s financial positioning as it enters this exciting next chapter. This transaction is indicative of Apollo’s growing role as a provider of high-grade capital solutions to leading corporations across an expanding range of industries and use cases, leveraging our scaled permanent capital base.”
Bob Valentine, Chief Executive Officer of BMG, said:
“The combination of BMG and Concord marks a defining moment in our company’s evolution. Apollo’s continued partnership and confidence in our strategy further strengthens our financial foundation and positions us to champion artists and songwriters, and to pursue global long-term growth opportunities. Together, we are building a stronger global music company with the scale, capabilities, and resources to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”
Concord ABS and music rights#
Bertelsmann disclosed the Apollo investment in its own announcement of the merger’s completion on September 1, putting the figure at approximately €1.1 billion. That release said the capital would enable BMG to “refinance and repay outstanding BMG / Concord ABS liabilities in the future.”
Apollo has backed Concord’s bond program since 2022, supporting the issuance of more than $4.5 billion of ABS debt, according to Thursday’s announcement.
Concord’s most recent bond sale, closed in July 2025, raised $1.765 billion against a portfolio of music rights valued at more than $5.1 billion. Apollo structured that transaction and formed the investor syndicate behind it.
The Concord rights behind those bonds include recordings and songs associated with:
- The Beatles
- Beyoncé
- Bruno Mars
- Ed Sheeran
- Kiss
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Daddy Yankee
- Phil Collins
- R.E.M.
- The Rolling Stones
Apollo’s broader music investments#
Apollo says it has originated more than $8 billion in music industry investments over the past five years. In July 2024, the firm provided a $700 million “capital solution” to Sony Music Group, which it said was intended to fund investments in the music industry.
Apollo is believed to have partially financed Sony’s acquisition of the Queen catalog, a transaction reported at the time to be worth US $1.27 billion.
Apollo also backed the 2021 launch of HarbourView Equity Partners, the music and media rights company founded by former Tempo Music CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, which is now on course to surpass $4 billion in regulatory assets under management.
In 2024, Apollo committed both debt and minority equity to Concord Chorus Ltd, the vehicle that bid $1.51 billion for Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Blackstone ultimately completed the takeover of Hipgnosis Songs Fund in a $1.58 billion deal.
Advisors and combined company targets#
On the Apollo/BMG deal, Deutsche Bank served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal counsel to Apollo. Goldman Sachs was financial advisor to BMG, with DLA Piper and Davis Polk serving as its legal counsel.
The combined BMG holds a catalog of more than four million works and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, with Berlin, Germany, serving as its European base. On completion of the merger, the company said it was targeting revenues of more than US $2.5 billion at an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of US $1.2 billion “in the midterm.”
Apollo had approximately $1.05 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
