Music-Industry Deal Consolidates Firms Of 2 Talent Managers
In a deal with the potential to reshape part of the music industry, two of the business's most prominent and successful talent managers, Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman, have sold their companies to a group of investors led by private-equity firms Thomas H. Lee Co. and Bain Capital Partners LLC.
People familiar with the new company estimated the value of the total investment at about $200 million; that figure likely includes a war chest for acquisitions. Lee and Bain are also the biggest equity investors in closely held Warner Music Group, which they bought for $2.6 billion last March from Time Warner Inc.
The new company already has looked into mergers or acquisitions of as many as two dozen other management companies. An aggressive roll-up of talent managers would follow similar consolidations in nearly every other sector of the music business.
People familiar with the deal said the investors have no plans to merge the operations of the management company and Warner Music.
The men's azoffmusic management and HK Management will be merged into a new company to be called Front Line Management -- resurrecting a name familiar to many in the music industry: In the 1970s and early 1980s, Messrs. Azoff and Kaufman were among the principals of a company that bore the same name.
Mr. Azoff's clients include the Eagles and Christina Aguilera, while Mr. Kaufman manages the careers of Jimmy Buffett, Boz Scaggs and others.
In addition to traditional management duties, the new company, to be led by Mr. Azoff as chief executive, will include a "music services" component, according to people with knowledge of the deal. This is likely to comprise online services, a fan-club-oriented ticketing component, and CD and DVD distribution for client-acts that don't have deals with record companies.
These services, the people say, likely would be provided by other investors who would have much smaller, "strategic" stakes in the company. The new company is said to be in talks with Yahoo Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp's TicketMaster and Warner Music Group to provide those services. But those deals could fall through.
两个艺人经理人公司的合并将改变音乐行业格局
音乐行业两位最为杰出和成功的艺人经理人Irving Azoff和Howard Kaufman已将其公司出售给一个由私人资本运营公司Thomas H. Lee Co.和Bain Capital Partners LLC.牵头的投资者团体，此项交易有可能在某些方面改变音乐行业的现有格局。
知情人士称，投资方总计向新公司投入了大约2亿美元，这大概包括了用于未来收购活动的资金。Lee和Bain还是少数人持股公司华纳音乐(Warner Music Group)的最大股东，两家公司在去年3月以26亿美元的价格从时代华纳公司(Time Warner Inc)手中收购了华纳音乐。
新公司已开始研究合并或收购另外二十几家艺人经理人公司的可行性。
知情人士称，投资方并不打算将新公司和华纳音乐的业务整合一处。
Irving Azoff和Howard Kaufman的公司将合并为一家名为Front Line Management的新公司，这一名字将唤起许多音乐界人士的回忆。在上一世纪70年代和80年代初期，Azoff和Kaufman均是一家名为Front Line Management公司的合伙人。
Azoff的客户包括老鹰乐团(Eagles)和克莉丝蒂娜?阿奎莱拉(Christina Aguilera)；Kaufman的客户则包括Jimmy Buffett、Boz Scaggs和其他音乐人。
知情人士称，除了传统的经理人责任，这家将由Azoff出任首席执行长的新公司还将包括音乐服务业务，这可能包括在线服务，面向歌迷俱乐部的售票业务，以及向没有与唱片公司签约的客户发行CD和DVD。
知情人士称，这些服务可能由其他有望对Front Line Management进行少量战略性投资的投资者提供。据称，Front Line Management正在与雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)、IAC/InterActiveCorp旗下子公司TicketMaster和华纳音乐就提供上述服务而展开谈判，但谈判可能毫无结果。
