Between September 2021 and February 2022, Switzerland-headquartered music firm Utopia made seven acquisitions.
Amongst the companies it purchased throughout this acquisition spree had been Liverpool-based music writer and publishing administration firm Sentric Music Group, US-based music business listing ROSTR, and Absolute Label Companies, a UK-based distribution and providers supplier to unbiased artists and document labels.
In February, we discovered that Utopia had determined to promote ROSTR again to its founders Mark Williamson and Adam Watson.
In March, Utopia offered Sentric to Paris-headquartered Imagine in a transaction Imagine mentioned values Sentric at €47 million ($51m).
Now, Utopia has divested but once more, with Absolute Label Companies’ authentic management staff regaining possession of the corporate, simply 18 months after their enterprise was acquired by Utopia Music.
Absolute was acquired by Utopia in February 2022. The corporate says that it maintained its authentic, long-standing staff, infrastructure and shopper base whereas underneath Utopia’s possession.
Absolute’s authentic shareholders, Henry Semmence, Simon Wills (the corporate’s founders), Debs Reducing and Mark Dowling have now reacquired 100% of the corporate from Utopia.
Absolute Label Companies is a UK-based distribution and providers supplier to unbiased artists and document labels. Based in 1998, Absolute’s present and up to date shopper base ranges from creating expertise similar to Jake Isaac, edbl and Au-Ra to established names together with Deep Purple, Beverly Knight and McFly.
Companies provided by Absolute to shoppers embody each digital and bodily distribution, along with advertising and marketing, direct-to-consumer operations, administration and promotion throughout streaming and radio.
Absolute says it has “lately seen vital development”, with revenues up 25% year-on-year throughout its enterprise – together with each its label providers and neighboring rights operations.
The corporate’s initiatives lined up for the remainder of the yr and into 2024 embody the likes of Kula Shaker, Busted, James McVey (The Vamps), Kaiser Chiefs, Delta Goodrem and Tokio Myers, and rising expertise similar to Barney Artist, edbl, Eljé and Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn.
“Our major focus for the final 28 years has been delivering success and development for our artists and labels. We stay up for persevering with our relationship with all of them, and offering the devoted help, sources, and progressive options they deserve.”
Henry Semmence, Simon Wills, Debs Reducing and Mark Dowling
In an announcement issued on Monday (July 17), Semmence, Wills, Reducing and Dowling mentioned: “Absolute’s administration staff is happy to announce our choice to maneuver ahead independently. The choice to revert the total possession of the corporate, and to protect its imaginative and prescient and course, was fuelled by our unwavering dedication to proceed offering distinctive label providers.
“Our major focus for the final 28 years has been delivering success and development for our artists and labels. We stay up for persevering with our relationship with all of them, and offering the devoted help, sources, and progressive options they deserve.”
They added: “We’re dedicated to exploring new collaborations, forging strategic partnerships, and harnessing cutting-edge applied sciences to raise our label providers to even better industrial development and success. Our dedication to funding and enlargement stays resolute.
“Our unimaginable workers, brimming with expertise and experience, will stay on the core of our success, and we’ll proceed to make sure they’ve the instruments and information to drive unparalleled outcomes for our artists and labels.”
Information of Absolute’s founders shopping for their firm again from Utopia marks the third time this yr that Utopia has offloaded an organization that it beforehand acquired throughout the previous 18 months.
In the meantime, Utopia can also be reportedly being sued by US music know-how firm SourceAudio, with the latter agency accusing the previous of reneging on an agreed acquisition deal.
Elsewhere at Utopia, in November, the corporate laid off a section of its world workers (believed to have affected 20% of its headcount), and on January 31 the agency’s founder, Mattias Hjelmstedt, introduced a serious restructure which he mentioned represented “an thrilling subsequent step in Utopia’s journey”, and proved that his firm was “optimizing for the longer term”.
The restructure noticed Utopia’s long-time CEO, Markku Mäkeläinen, depart the agency, whereas Hjelmstedt assumed accountability for the day-to-day operating of the corporate.
On the time, Utopia was cut up into two distinct divisions: (i) ‘Music Companies’ (together with acquired companies such because the UK-based trio of Sentric Music Group, Absolute Label Companies, and Correct, which it acquired in January 2022); and (ii) ‘Royalty Platform’, underneath which sat Utopia’s in-house tech platform.
Former Downtown government Roberto Neri, who joined Utopia as its COO in 2021, was confirmed as the brand new CEO of Utopia’s ‘Music Companies’ division, however on April 3, simply 62 days after that announcement, Neri confirmed he was leaving Utopia to grow to be CEO of the brand new world publishing division of Imagine.
Following at the moment’s information, two of these firms that shaped Utopia’s ‘Music Companies’ division, Absolute Label Companies and Sentric, are not owned by Utopia.
MBW heard rumors again in March that Utopia was additionally contemplating a fast sale for 2 extra of its UK-based acquisitions: Correct and Cinram Novum. (On the time, a Utopia spokesperson strongly denied this suggestion.)
In Could, Utopia Music entered into a “long-term” £100 million-plus ($125m) contract with DP World, a multinational UAE-headquartered logistics firm, to offer warehousing and logistics for bodily music within the UK.
As a part of the deal, DP World is becoming out a brand new warehouse in Bicester, within the UK for Utopia’s distribution unit, Utopia Distribution Companies (UDS).
Utopia mentioned that inventory might be transferring from UDS’ warehouse in Aylesbury, UK (which it says it “inherited” from UK warehouse, success and distribution agency Cinram Novum, whose property Utopia acquired in 2022.)
Final week, MBW listened in to and reported on an interview with Utopia founder Mattias Hjelmstedt on the Dealmakers podcast with Alejandro Cremades, the place he dropped some hints as to what has been occurring with the corporate of late.
Different firms acquired by Utopia embody, in October 2022, Nashville-based monetary providers firm, Lyric Monetary and in September, 2022 Utopia purchased Quincy Jones-backed emotional knowledge enrichment firm Musimap.
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