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The private equity titan Blackstone is this weekend drawing up plans for a £1.2bn takeover bid for the owner of songs performed by Blondie, the Kaiser Chiefs and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Blackstone has already tabled several offers to buy Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), the London-listed music rights investment company.

The first was worth 82p-a-share, insiders said, while another was pitched at 88p and the most recent was worth marginally less than a 93.2p-a-share bid for HSF unveiled on Thursday from Concord Chorus, a music and theatrical rights company.

Sources said that Blackstone, which is being advised by investment bankers at Jefferies, was now considering making a higher offer for HSF, which trades on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker SONG.

One added that Blackstone had been “surprised” by the announcement this week that SONG’s board had recommended the bid from Concord Chorus – which is backed by Apollo Global Management – given its own ongoing conversations about an offer.

The person also questioned HSF’s decision to recommend a proposal “at the start of a bidding war, without attempting to extract greater value for shareholders”.

A source close to HSF disputed that characterisation.

A takeover of the company would crystallise value for Hipgnosis shareholders, who saw the shares slump to a record low in March of about 56p in the wake of a reduction in the value of its portfolio and a suspension of dividend payments.

HSF’s troubles have been played out for months in the public arena, culminating last October in a decision by shareholders to reject its board’s goal of securing their backing for its continuation.

Shakira performs with Bizarrap during the the first weekend of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Friday, April 12, 2024, in Indio, Calif. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
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Shakira. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

The company has been mired in bitter recriminations and legal arguments over its performance and governance.

A review conducted by Shot Tower Capital, a specialist adviser, concluded in March that SONG’s assets were worth a fifth less than Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), its investment adviser, had reported last September.

Blackstone is already deeply immersed in HSF’s future because it owns a 51% stake in HSM, which has a contract to manage the SONG assets.

If HSM agreed to terminate the contract between them, it would release up to $25m for HSF although analysts say it is unclear why HSM would willingly forego any cash it believes is owed to it.

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One of the obstacles facing Blackstone in any new offer lies in the fact that the SONG board has received irrevocable acceptances of the Concord Chorus bid from over 23% of shareholders.

Those only fall away in the event that a rival bidder tables an offer worth at least 10% more – in this case over 102p-a-share.

However, HSM also has a call option in its management agreement with HSF which allows it to acquire the portfolio of music assets even if Concord Chorus is successful, at the same price it pays.

The call option is understood to evaporate if the management contract is terminated for cause.

The legal disputes involving the companies, which insiders have left the situation finely balanced, with a possible compromise agreement between them also being floated by investors.

A source close to Blackstone said it was very confident in its contractual position.

Artists whose catalogues are owned by the listed company also include Neil Young and Mark Ronson.

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The remainder of HSM is owned by Merck Mercuriadis, a former manager of Beyonce and Sir Elton John, who launched Hipgnosis in 2018 with the aim of turning music royalties into a mainstream asset class.

He struck a $1bn deal three years later for Blackstone to provide firepower for buying music rights and managing catalogues.

Since then, some of the world’s most prominent financiers, including the likes of Apollo and KKR, have developed a similar appetite to buy into music assets.

In February, Mr Mercuriadis moved from becoming CEO of HSM to the chairman’s role, with Ben Katovsky taking over as CEO.

Sources emphasised on Saturday that Blackstone’s interest in acquiring HSF was on a standalone basis and was independent of Mr Mercuriadis.

That stance is likely to raise questions about the buyout giant’s ongoing relationship with the Hipgnosis founder.

Blackstone is one of the world’s most powerful investors, with hundreds of billions of dollars of ‘dry powder’ available for investment.

When its alliance with Mr Mercuriadis was unveiled two-and-a-half years ago, Qasim Abbas, a senior managing director in Blackstone’s tactical opportunities team, said: “This partnership underscores the long-term, sustainable value we see in creative content across the wider entertainment industry.

“The music industry has been at the forefront of the fast-growing streaming economy and is unlocking new ways of consuming content.”

Shares in HSF closed on Friday at 91.9p, giving it a market capitalisation of just over £1.1bn and marginally below the level of the recommended offer from Concord Chorus.

On Saturday, Blackstone and HSF both declined to comment.

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UK economy figures not as bad as they look despite GDP fall, analysts say

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UK economy figures not as bad as they look despite GDP fall, analysts say

The UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May, even after the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs were paused, official figures showed.

A standard measure of economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), contracted 0.1% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Rather than a fall being anticipated, growth of 0.1% was forecast by economists polled by Reuters as big falls in production and construction were seen.

It followed a 0.3% contraction in April, when Mr Trump announced his country-specific tariffs and sparked a global trade war.

A 90-day pause on these import taxes, which has been extended, allowed more normality to resume.

This was borne out by other figures released by the ONS on Friday.

Exports to the United States rose £300m but “remained relatively low” following a “substantial decrease” in April, the data said.

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Overall, there was a “large rise in goods imports and a fall in goods exports”.

A ‘disappointing’ but mixed picture

It’s “disappointing” news, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said. She and the government as a whole have repeatedly said growing the economy was their number one priority.

“I am determined to kickstart economic growth and deliver on that promise”, she added.

But the picture was not all bad.

Growth recorded in March was revised upwards, further indicating that companies invested to prepare for tariffs. Rather than GDP of 0.2%, the ONS said on Friday the figure was actually 0.4%.

It showed businesses moved forward activity to be ready for the extra taxes. Businesses were hit with higher employer national insurance contributions in April.

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The expansion in March means the economy still grew when the three months are looked at together.

While an interest rate cut in August had already been expected, investors upped their bets of a 0.25 percentage point fall in the Bank of England’s base interest rate.

Such a cut would bring down the rate to 4% and make borrowing cheaper.

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Analysts from economic research firm Pantheon Macro said the data was not as bad as it looked.

“The size of the manufacturing drop looks erratic to us and should partly unwind… There are signs that GDP growth can rebound in June”, said Pantheon’s chief UK economist, Rob Wood.

Why did the economy shrink?

The drops in manufacturing came mostly due to slowed car-making, less oil and gas extraction and the pharmaceutical industry.

The fall was not larger because the services industry – the largest part of the economy – expanded, with law firms and computer programmers having a good month.

It made up for a “very weak” month for retailers, the ONS said.

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UK economy remains fragile – and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner

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UK economy remains fragile - and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner

Monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures are volatile and, on their own, don’t tell us much.

However, the picture emerging a year since the election of the Labour government is not hugely comforting.

This is a government that promised to turbocharge economic growth, the key to improving livelihoods and the public finances. Instead, the economy is mainly flatlining.

Output shrank in May by 0.1%. That followed a 0.3% drop in April.

Ministers were celebrating a few months ago as data showed the economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter.

Hangover from artificial growth

However, the subsequent data has shown us that much of that growth was artificial, with businesses racing to get orders out of the door to beat the possible introduction of tariffs. Property transactions were also brought forward to beat stamp duty changes.

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In April, we experienced the hangover as orders and industrial output dropped. Services also struggled as demand for legal and conveyancing services dropped after the stamp duty changes.

Many of those distortions have now been smoothed out, but the manufacturing sector still struggled in May.

Signs of recovery

Manufacturing output fell by 1% in May, but more up-to-date data suggests the sector is recovering.

“We expect both cars and pharma output to improve as the UK-US trade deal comes into force and the volatility unwinds,” economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics said.

Meanwhile, the services sector eked out growth of 0.1%.

A 2.7% month-to-month fall in retail sales suppressed growth in the sector, but that should improve with hot weather likely to boost demand at restaurants and pubs.

Struggles ahead

It is unlikely, however, to massively shift the dial for the economy, the kind of shift the Labour government has promised and needs in order to give it some breathing room against its fiscal rules.

The economy remains fragile, and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner.

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Is Britain going bankrupt?

Concerns that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering tax hikes could weigh on consumer confidence, at a time when businesses are already scaling back hiring because of national insurance tax hikes.

Inflation is also expected to climb in the second half of the year, further weighing on consumers and businesses.

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Government to announce new scheme as it ramps up AI adoption with backing from Facebook owner Meta

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Government to announce new scheme as it ramps up AI adoption with backing from Facebook owner Meta

The government is speeding up its adoption of AI to try and encourage economic growth – with backing from Facebook parent Meta.

It will today announce a $1m (£740,000) scheme to hire up to 10 AI “experts” to help with the adoption of the technology.

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken repeatedly about wanting to use the developing technology as part of his “plan for change” to improve the UK – with claims it could produce tens of billions in savings and efficiencies.

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The government is hoping the new hires could help with problems like translating classified documents en masse, speeding up planning applications or help with emergency responses when power or internet outages occur.

The funding for the roles is coming from Meta, through the Alan Turing Institute. Adverts will go live next week, with the new fellowships expected to start at the beginning of 2026.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “This fellowship is the best of AI in action – open, practical, and built for public good. It’s about delivery, not just ideas – creating real tools that help government work better for people.”

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He added: “The fellowship will help scale that kind of impact across government, and develop sovereign capabilities where the UK must lead, like national security and critical infrastructure.”

The projects will all be based on open source models, meaning there will be a minimal cost for the government when it comes to licensing.

Meta describes its own AI model, Llama, as open source, although there are questions around whether it truly qualifies for that title due to parts of its code base not being published.

The owner of Facebook has also sponsored several studies into the benefits of government adopting more open source AI tools.

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Mr Kyle’s Department for Science and Technology has been working on its mission to increase the uptake of AI within government, including through the artificial intelligence “incubator”, under which these fellowships will fall.

The secretary of state has pointed to the success of Caddy – a tool that helps call centre workers search for answers in official documents faster – and its expanding use across government as an example of an AI success story.

He said the tool, developed with Citizens Advice, shows how AI can “boost productivity, improve decision-making, and support frontline staff”. A trial suggested it could cut waiting times for calls in half.

My Kyle also recently announced a deal with Google to provide tech support to government and assist with modernisation of data.

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Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer from Meta, said: “Open-source AI models are helping researchers and developers make major scientific and medical breakthroughs, and they have the potential to transform the delivery of public services too.

“This partnership with ATI will help the government access some of the brightest minds and the technology they need to solve big challenges – and to do it openly and in the public interest.”

Jean Innes, the head of the Alan Turing Institute, said: “These fellowships will offer an innovative way to match AI experts with the real world challenges our public services are facing.”

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