SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and media businesses, announced its growth investment and funding of the combination of Hal Leonard, the legendary sheet music publisher and music-learning provider, and Muse Group, an industry leader in music content and creation. The partnership of the two companies creates a leading global music learning content platform, solidifies its competitive position in the music creation industry, and allows for significant growth potential to lead content and education in both the traditional and digital form.

Hal Leonard’s exclusively licensed, premium arrangements include the world’s most iconic artists and scores from Taylor Swift and The Beatles to John Williams and Disney soundtracks. Combined with over 3 million expert and community-created tabs and compositions, 300 million annual visitors and over 40 million accounts on Muse Group’s Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore, the joint business now includes a content library of over 5.5 million scores, tabs, books, video courses, backing tracks, and presets.

“This partnership will create more music makers worldwide and will lead to even more advances in music education technology, while also expanding ways creators and rights holders can make their musical works more widely available,” said Larry Morton, Hal Leonard’s Chairman. “Hal Leonard and Muse have been working closely together in commercial partnerships for over fifteen years and have built trust and mutual respect over that time. Combining the strengths of both companies is a truly exciting prospect, full of potential ways to grow the music industry in new directions.”

“Our passion for improving the lives of all musicians has always been at the heart of Muse Group and we’re immensely excited to partner with the Hal Leonard team who share that passion,” said Eugeny Naidenov, CEO of Muse Group.

“We are excited to partner with Muse Group and Hal Leonard to help enable their combination and usher in the joint company’s next stage of growth. The combined business will offer its customers unparalleled content and technology focused on music learning across digital, print, and educational channels,” said Matt Spetzler, Partner & Co-Head of Europe at Francisco Partners. “We are thrilled to provide a tailored capital solution in support of this transaction and are excited to back the innovative growth strategy of the combined company,” added Lee Rubenstein, Managing Director at Francisco Partners.

While Hal Leonard will join Muse Group, both companies will retain their respective headquarters in the U.S. and Cyprus, respectively, and distinct operational expertise. The combined company will apply Francisco Partners’ investment to accelerate organic and inorganic growth and is actively looking to partner with innovators in the sector.

Hal Leonard was advised by Lincoln International and JEGI CLARITY as its financial advisors, and O’Melveny & Myers LLP as its legal advisor. Muse Group was advised by Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. as its legal advisor. Francisco Partners was advised by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as its legal advisor.

About Muse Group

Muse Group is a visionary, international team of music lovers and audio obsessives, empowering millions of creatives to play, produce and compose every day. The company began life in 1998 as Ultimate Guitar, a tab sharing site that grew into the world’s most popular online musician community. Muse Group now includes products such as MuseScore, Audacity, StaffPad and more (https://www.mu.se/).

About Hal Leonard

Hal Leonard is the world-leader in sheet music publishing, and boasts a storied history of providing music learners with the very best arrangements of popular music for over 70 years. With experienced teams based all over the globe, Hal Leonard also supplies books, instruments, gear and software to millions of educators and learners worldwide (https://www.halleonard.com/).

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch nearly 25 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 400 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With approximately $45 billion in capital raised to date, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

Contacts

For Muse Group
Jack Sutton, Head of Communications at Muse Group
j.sutton@mu.se

For Francisco Partners
Whit Clay / Sarah Braunstein
wclay@sloanepr.com / sbraunstein@sloanepr.com

Leading Growth-Oriented Investment Firm to Accelerate BMI’s Growth Plan to Drive Increased Distributions and Enhanced Services for its Affiliates

BMI Affiliates to Receive $100 Million of Sale Proceeds Following Transaction Closing

New York, NY – November 21, 2023 – New Mountain Capital, LLC, (“New Mountain”) a leading growth-oriented investment firm with over $45 billion in assets under management, announced today that it will lead a shareholder group to acquire Broadcast Music Inc. (“BMI”), the world’s largest performing rights organization (“PRO”). Headquartered in New York, BMI protects the rights of and advocates for more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers and music publishers (“affiliates”). BMI secures royalties for its affiliates by offering licenses to businesses for the performing rights in 22.4 million musical works. Mike O’Neill, BMI’s President & CEO, will continue to lead the company, along with his leadership team, following the closing.

New Mountain will acquire the company from the shareholders who own BMI today. New Mountain has also reserved additional capital to fund growth investments, new ventures and technology enhancements to help accelerate BMI’s long-term plan to maximize distributions for its affiliates and improve the service it provides to songwriters, composers and publishers.

As part of the agreement, and in recognition of the creativity of the songwriters, composers and publishers they have had the privilege to represent, BMI’s current shareholders will allocate $100 million of the proceeds of the sale to affiliates shortly after the transaction closing. The allocation of those funds, while not a distribution of royalties, will be in keeping with the company’s distribution methodologies, which are based on performance levels over a set period of time. BMI will work to finalize an equitable payout plan for this allocation in the coming months.

“Today marks an exciting new chapter for BMI that puts us in the best possible position to stay ahead of the evolving industry and ensure the long-term success of our music creators,” said Mike O’Neill, BMI President & CEO. “New Mountain is an ideal partner because they believe in our mission and understand that the key to success for our company lies in delivering value to our affiliates. We are excited about the many ways New Mountain will accelerate our growth plan, bringing new vision, technological expertise and an outstanding track record of strengthening businesses, all of which will help us build an even stronger future for BMI and our songwriters, composers and publishers.” He added, “I would also like to thank the BMI Board of Directors and BMI’s shareholders for their excellent stewardship and unwavering support of our creative community since the company’s founding in 1939.”

“BMI has been a trusted guide and champion of music creators from the beginning, and we are privileged to work with the company and its 1.4 million affiliates to build on that incredible legacy,” said Pete Masucci, Managing Director at New Mountain. “There are numerous growth opportunities ahead for BMI with significant potential to generate more value for the work of its songwriters, composers and publishers. We look forward to working together alongside Mike and his team to capitalize on those opportunities for the benefit of all BMI stakeholders.”

“While the music industry has undergone a technology-driven transformation over the past two decades, music infrastructure, including the performing rights ecosystem has been slower to transform,” said Mike Oshinsky, Director at New Mountain. “There is tremendous opportunity to modernize this critical part of music infrastructure and ensure that long term royalty collections for songwriters, composers and publishers continue to grow. With our support, BMI is ideally positioned to drive this transformation as the only PRO in the world to combine an open-door policy to all music creators with the innovation and commercial drive of a for-profit business.”

Growth Plan to Accelerate Value for Affiliates

New Mountain’s motto is “building great businesses,” and it brings to BMI significant experience partnering with management teams to grow and add value to the benefit of all constituents. The firm has added or created nearly 69,000 jobs, net of job losses across all of its current and past portfolio companies, has invested over $7 billion into research and development, software, and capital expenditures and generated an estimated $79 billion of enterprise value gains.

New Mountain’s growth investment in BMI will accelerate the company’s ambitious value creation plan, which has three core tenets:

1. First, to continue to grow cash distributions for its affiliates, as it has always done.
2. Second, to invest in next generation technology platforms and new service offerings that will improve royalty collections, enhance BMI’s customer service, and deliver the best possible experience for its affiliates.
3. Third, to add new revenue streams driven by organic growth investments and M&A opportunities, with an initial focus on improving general licensing royalty collections, international partnerships and new service offerings. New growth investments will create additional opportunities for distribution income for its affiliates.

New Mountain’s investment does not change the distribution targets previously communicated, which is the same approach the company followed in calendar year 2023 and which it will follow moving forward. For the calendar year, BMI targeted a payout of 85% of its licensing revenues and delivered +11% growth in cash distributions to affiliates over 2022’s distributions, which were reflective of the company’s prior not-for-profit model.

The transaction is subject to approval by BMI shareholders and customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of Q1 2024. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor to BMI and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP served as its legal advisor. Moelis & Company served as financial advisor to New Mountain, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP served as its legal advisor. As part of New Mountain’s investment, CapitalG will also invest a passive minority stake in BMI.

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About BMI
Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on X and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music, Inc.‘s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.

Media Contacts

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, and Onex, a leading investor and alternative asset manager, today jointly announced that AEG and Onex Partners have signed a definitive agreement to sell their entire ownership interest in ASM Global (“ASM”), a global leader in third-party venue and event management, to Legends, a global premium experiences company. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Read the acquisition announcement here.

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of the journey AEG and Onex embarked on in early 2019 when we completed the merger of AEG Facilities and SMG to form ASM Global,” said Dan Beckerman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of AEG. “Our purpose has been clear from the start – to drive ASM’s growth and create significant value for ASM and its clients. Despite the tremendous impact of the pandemic, we were able to unlock substantial business value over the past four years with ASM growing both its revenues and global portfolio.”

“This transaction will allow us to focus on the continued growth of AEG’s core businesses, including our owned and operated real estate and venues and our live entertainment and ticketing business,” said Ted Fikre, Vice Chairman and Chief Legal and Development Officer of AEG. “AEG has enjoyed our successful partnership with Onex and, while we will no longer be an owner in ASM, we look forward to continuing to work with the company and its talented leadership team as they pursue ongoing success under the stewardship of Legends as the new owner.”

Kosty Gilis, Managing Director at Onex Partners, commented “We are extremely grateful to the entire ASM leadership team for their unwavering dedication to positioning the business for success, in particular during the unparalleled operating environment they faced during the pandemic, which has allowed ASM to recover so strongly and have great long-term prospects. We would also like to thank AEG who have been wonderful partners consistent with their impeccable reputation in the marketplace.” Amir Motamedi, Managing Director at Onex Partners, added “We believe ASM is being acquired by an outstanding company in Legends who will take the business to new heights. We wish them much success in the coming years as they continue to grow the business and serve customers globally.”

ASM Global manages a portfolio of live event entertainment venues worldwide and provides best-in-class venue management and operation services. With clients spanning five continents, ASM Global operates venues that serve live events for more than 164 million guests annually. Legends provides a complementary offering of hospitality, venue planning and project management, premium sales, sponsorship, and merchandise services to many of the world’s most iconic sports, entertainment, and attractions brands.

The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, is targeted to close in 2024.

About AEG

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. The company operates in the following business segments:

Music through AEG Presents, which is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performances, including the production and promotion of global and regional concert tours, an extensive portfolio of clubs, theaters and other music venues, concerts and special events and world-renowned festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival;

Venues and Real Estate, which develops, owns and operates world-class venues, as well as major sports and entertainment districts like Crypto.com Arena and L.A. LIVE, Mercedes Platz in Berlin and The O2 in London;

Sports, as the world’s largest operator of high-profile sporting events and sports franchises including the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Eisbären Berlin;

and Global Partnerships, which oversees worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships including naming rights, premium seating, and other strategic partnerships.

Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 160 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at www.aegworldwide.com.

About Onex

Onex is an investor and asset manager that invests capital on behalf of Onex shareholders and clients across the globe. Formed in 1984, we have a long track record of creating value for our clients and shareholders. Onex’ two primary businesses are Private Equity and Credit. In Private Equity, we raise funds from third-party investors, or limited partners, and invest them, along with Onex’ own investing capital, through the funds of our private equity platforms, Onex Partners and ONCAP. Similarly, in Credit, we raise and invest capital across several private credit, public credit and public equity strategies. Our investors include a broad range of global clients, including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and family offices. In total, Onex has $49.5 billion in assets under management, of which $7.9 billion is Onex’ own investing capital. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey, Boston and London, Onex and its experienced management teams are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms.

Onex is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ONEX. For more information on Onex, visit its website at www.onex.com. Onex’ security filings can also be accessed at www.sedarplus.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain, without limitation, statements concerning possible or assumed future operations, performance or results preceded by, followed by or that include words such as “believes”, “expects”, “potential”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans” and words of similar connotation, which would constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve significant and diverse risks and uncertainties that may cause actual operations, performance or results to be materially different from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. Except as may be required by Canadian securities law, Onex is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or other factors. These cautionary statements expressly qualify all forward-looking statements in this press release.

For Further Information:

Onex

Jill Homenuk

Managing Director – Shareholder

Relations and Communications

Tel: +1 416.362.7711

AEG Worldwide