PE HUB Wire Highlights, 11.15.19

Taylor Swift asks Carlyle Group for help with her old music, Bain Capital moves forward with second impact fund

Happy Friday!

It’s been a busy week as we head inexorably to year-end. Great spending time with you this week, Dear Reader!

Since it’s Friday, let’s talk Taylor Swift. The mega-star, who is set to be honored as artist of the decade at the American Music Awards, on Thursday asked her legions to unleash their disapprobation on those she claims are controlling her early music — including Carlyle Group. She wants them to free up her early catalog so she can perform it live and so it can be featured in a forthcoming Netflix documentary about her life.

Swift claims music executives Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun are exercising “tyrannical” control over her early material, she wrote Thursday in a statement to fans. Specifically, Swift appealed to Carlyle Group, which helped finance the sale of her music catalog in a deal closed earlier this year.

Part of the disagreement appears to revolve around Swift’s plans to re-record some of her early material under her new label, which would in effect give her back control of her early music. She is only allowed to do that in November 2020, she said in her note to fans.

Carlyle-backed Ithaca Holdings, controlled by Braun, acquired Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group earlier this year, PE HUB previously reported. Swift started her career at Big Machine until she left in 2018 to join Universal Music Group, CNBC reported. Ithaca took over Swift’s first six albums in the deal.

Carlyle initially invested in Ithaca in 2017. It supported the Big Machine acquisition with an additional equity investment through Carlyle Partners VI, according to a statement about the deal. The deal included Big Machine’s client roster, distribution deals, publishing sides and owned artist masters, including the masters from Swift’s six multi-platinum studio albums, the statement said.

CONTINUE READING