(Bloomberg) -- Francisco Partners is in advanced talks to acquire music-publishing and technology service Kobalt Music Group Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. 

The San Francisco-based buyout firm has been discussing a purchase price of about $750 million to $1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. 

No final decision has been made, and negotiations could still fall apart, the people said. A representative for Francisco didn’t respond to requests for comment, while a spokesperson for Kobalt declined to comment. 

Kobalt was founded in 2000 by Swedish entrepeneur Willard Ahdritz. It’s built one of the largest publishing companies in the music business by offering songwriters a range of services that help them collect royalties, place their work on advertisements and TV shows, and track their income through an app. 

The company didn’t take ownership in their work and pitched itself as a tech-enabled services business. Kobalt’s publishing roster includes Paul McCartney and superstar producer Max Martin, its website shows. 

There has been a lot of dealmaking in the music industry as artists unload their catalogs to private-equity backed outfits and big recording companies rebound from the bust in the CD market. 

This potential sale has been a long time coming. Kobalt, whose investors have included Hearst Entertainment and Michael Dell’s MSD Capital LP, retained advisers to explore a sale in 2020, Bloomberg News reported at the time. Last year, Kobalt Capital -- an affiliate that raises money to buy copyrights -- agreed to sell a song portfolio to KKR & Co. and a partner for $1.1 billion. 

That said, the market for copyrights and music assets has softened in recent months due to rising interest rates and broader macroeconomic concerns. Concord and Broadcast Music Inc. both tried to find buyers, only to take themselves off the market after bids didn’t meet expectations.

Francisco is active in the entertainment and media investing space, having backed companies including ticketing firm Eventbrite Inc. and news-publishing outlet News Break. Led by Chief Executive Officer Dipanjan Deb, the firm announced in July that it had raised $17 billion for its latest funds. 

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