Litmus Music Acquires Opus Music Group: Opus Music Group, which holds the rights to music catalogs from artists like Juice WRLD, Ozuna, Maluma, and Rauw Alejandro, has been quietly acquired by Litmus Music. This comes five months after Billboard reported that Opus was up for sale, with an asking price exceeding $200 million, and was working with Raine Group to find a buyer.
It seems that Litmus Music, founded in 2022 by industry veterans Hank Forsyth and Dan McCarroll along with Carlyle Global Credit, has successfully secured the acquisition. The news was confirmed by Charles Johnson, Managing Director of Investment Banking, Media, Telecom, and Entertainment at Truist Securities.
Litmus Music has been actively expanding its portfolio with significant deals. In June 2023, they acquired a portfolio of compositions from songwriter and producer Benny Blanco, which includes numerous multi-platinum hits. Later, in September 2023, they made headlines by purchasing a bundle of rights from Katy Perry in a deal reportedly worth around $225 million, marking it as the largest catalog deal of the year for a single artist. This acquisition covers Perry’s five studio albums with Capitol Records, including the Grammy-nominated “Teenage Dream.” Litmus now owns Perry’s stake in her master royalty income and her publishing rights for albums such as “One of the Boys,” “Teenage Dream,” “PRISM,” “Witness,” and “Smile,” released between 2008 and 2020, although Universal Music Group retains control over the master rights to these albums.
Litmus’ recent acquisition and expansion efforts reflect a broader trend in the music industry, where major players are increasing their credit facilities with financial service providers. In May, Downtown Music secured an additional $500 million credit line from Bank of America to bolster services for independent artists and labels. Kobalt also expanded its financial capabilities in March, boosting its spending power to over $1 billion through a $450 million revolving credit facility led by Truist Securities.
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Similarly, in December, HarbourView Equity Partners, under the leadership of former Tempo Music CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, expanded its senior secured credit facility led by Fifth Third Bank, increasing its capacity by $100 million to $300 million to acquire more music rights.
