MBW informed you in January that our sources reckoned BMG had purchased Broken Bow Records and its Nashville-based parent BBR Music Group for around $100m.
Now we know exactly how much the Bertelsmann-owned company shelled out on the deal.
According to small print within Bertelsmann’s 2016 annual report, BMG spent €97m on the preliminary purchase price before adjustments.
Using January’s average currency exchange rates, that comes out at US $103.1m.
What’s more, Bertelsmann’s report also reveals that BMG spend €123m ($136m) on acquisitions in 2016.
Some €81m ($90m) of this money was spent in the UK, with €19m ($21m) spent in the US.
“Our plans for the future are as ambitious as ever. There is a huge hunger from artists and songwriters for a new and fairer music business which delivers them the service they deserve.”
(The BBRMG deal was additional to this money, coming after BMG/Bertelsmann’s fiscal close in December.)
BMG’s acquisitions in the 12 months of 2016 included a chunk of BBC Worldwide’s publishing catalogue, plus two UK production music houses – Altitude and Beds and Beats.
Explaining the Broken Bow deal to MBW in January – which included the ingestion of 48 Nashville-based staff – BMG boss Hartwig Masuch said: “This is a significant milestone in the development of our recorded music business in the US. At a stroke it gives us a major presence in the Nashville market and one of the most dynamic genres in American music.
“Our plans for the future are as ambitious as ever. There is a huge hunger from artists and songwriters for a new and fairer music business which delivers them the service they deserve.
“We are here to satisfy that hunger and offer them a real alternative.”
Broken Bow’s roster includes Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, Dustin Lynch, Randy Houser, Thompson Square and many others.Music Business Worldwide
