Round Hill Music LP has announced its acquisition of Canadian independent music firm Linus Entertainment, encompassing a collection of over 3,000 songs and 20,000 master recordings.
The deal involves Linus Entertainment’s music recording and publishing catalogs, including those of Borealis Records, Mummy Dust Music Ltd, Solid Gold Records, Stony Plain Records, The Children’s Group, and True North Records.
The acquisition also covers the purchase of distribution company Independent Digital Licensing Agency Inc (IDLA), according to a press release on Tuesday (August 22).
Linus Entertainment was founded in 2000 by Geoff Kulawick, former Virgin Records A&R director and Warner Chappell Publishing Creative Director. He also served as a founding board member of MERLIN and on the board of CIMA for over a decade.
Linus Entertainment holds the exclusive rights to a range of popular recordings spanning rock, blues, folk, jazz, and global artists.
Serving as an indie record label, distributor and music publisher, Linus Entertainment’s artists include Big Wreck, whose 1997 debut album achieved double platinum certification, Canadian Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Cockburn, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winner Buffy Sainte-Marie, accomplished blues rock artist Colin James, Gordon Lightfoot, Natalie MacMaster, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, folk musician Stan Rogers, and Grammy-winning blues musician Taj Mahal.
“This investment includes some of the most celebrated music and performers to come out of Canada and supports our strategy of investing in and supporting the growth of iconic music.”
The acquisition was executed on behalf of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund III LP, one of Round Hill Music’s private equity funds.
In 2022, Round Hill said it had spent more than $200 million across 40 acquisitions. Its string of purchases led to a 32% annual jump in revenue in 2022 to $32.4 million.
Round Hill Music recently acquired the remaining share of the catalog of music publishing rights of Big Loud Shirt Industries, bringing its ownership of the country music catalog up to 100%.
“Having built Linus Entertainment up over the past two decades, now is the right time for us to hand the reins over to a partner that we know will oversee it with passion and care.”
Geoff Kulawick, Linus Entertainment
Commenting on the acquisition of Linus Entertainment, Josh Gruss, CEO at Round Hill Music LP, said: “This investment includes some of the most celebrated music and performers to come out of Canada and supports our strategy of investing in and supporting the growth of iconic music.”
“The opportunity Linus Entertainment presented to us was truly a one off and we are very excited to have these incredible Canadian artists included in the Round Hill stable.”
Geoff Kulawick, Founder of Linus Entertainment, added: “Having built Linus Entertainment up over the past two decades, now is the right time for us to hand the reins over to a partner that we know will oversee it with passion and care. Round Hill has a strong reputation with an excellent team and we are confident that the business and, importantly, the music, is in good hands from here.”
Linus Entertainment was represented by Birchmount Capital Partners Inc, Sheppard Brown and Stikeman Elliott in the acquisition, while Selverne Bradford PLLC acted on behalf of Round Hill Music.
