(Bloomberg) -- Warner Music Group Corp., the record group behind artists such as Cardi B, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, reignited its plans for an initial public offering, becoming the latest music company to cash in on the streaming boom.
Backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, shareholders of New York-based Warner Music plan to sell 70 million shares of its Class A common stock priced between $23 and $26 a share -- raising as much as $1.8 billion -- according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The offering consists entirely of secondary shares to be sold by Blavatnik’s Access Industries and certain related selling stockholders, the filing said. None of the money raised will be retained by Warner Music.
Music sales have surged in recent years thanks to the growth of paid streaming services from Spotify Technology SA and Apple Inc. That’s boosted the value of music companies and enticed investors back to the record industry.
Vivendi SA agreed last year to sell a minority stake in Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, to a group led by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. That transaction valued the business at 30 billion euros ($32.9 billion).
Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-American, has a net worth estimated at $22.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He bought Warner Music for $1.3 billion in 2011, when the music industry was in the depths of a 15-year decline. Warner Music sales have climbed by 50% since 2015. The company reported net income of $258 million in fiscal 2019 on revenue of $4.48 billion.
Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are acting as joint bookrunners and as representatives of the underwriters for the offering.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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