NEW YORK--()--Influence Media Partners (“Influence Media” or “Influence”) — a leading music and entertainment company focused on partnering with and investing in top music talent — has secured approximately $360 million in debt financing through an inaugural private securitization, collateralized by music royalties from a portion of its impressive total portfolio. The issuance attracted funding from premier investors including, but not limited to, Nuveen, PPM America, Aflac, Pacific Life, and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners.1

The transaction was led by Goldman Sachs and Truist Securities, acting as Co-Structuring and Joint Placement Agents, as well as BlackRock as a Joint Placement Agent. Lynn Hazan, Co-Managing Partner at Influence Media, oversaw this effort on behalf of the company. Prior to joining Influence, Hazan spent more than 20 years within the C-suite of divisions of Sony Music as GM and CFO. Attorneys who advised Influence Media in the transaction include Latham & Watkins serving as Securitization Counsel, Schulte Roth & Zabel (SRZ) as Corporate Counsel, and Alter, Kendrick & Baron (AKB) as Music Counsel.

“Securing this funding is a testament to Influence’s thoughtful, disciplined and highly strategic vision that prioritizes artist partnership and strong collaboration. Our strategy has allowed us to amass an exceptional roster of catalogs and artist partners who are the heartbeat of Influence Media. This new round of financing will enable us to continue expanding our portfolio, unlock new opportunities, and join forces with even more incredible talent. We are grateful to our partners at Goldman, Truist and BlackRock for their relentless commitment to this accomplishment.” - Lynn Hazan, Co-Managing Partner at Influence Media

“BlackRock was thrilled to partner with Influence as both a long-term investor and placement agent in this transaction. We continue to be impressed by the team’s financial discipline and underwriting. Additionally, the high-quality roster of institutional investors in this deal is a testament to the strength of the platform that Lylette, Lynn, and Rene have built.” - Hilary Thorndike, Managing Director at BlackRock

Founded in 2019, Influence Media’s investment strategy is built on "modern evergreens," songs, and diverse artists with a strong potential for long-term impact on pop culture. Leveraging strategic relationships with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Warner Music Group, among others, Influence has invested in over 30 catalogs from a range of successful cross-genre artists and songwriters. Influence’s innovative partnership with Enrique Iglesias marked the company’s first ever NIL deal.

The latest round of capital also follows the launch of Influence’s new independent frontline record label, music publishing and distribution company, SLANG.

About Influence Media

Influence Media Partners (“Influence Media” or “Influence”) is a music and entertainment company whose mission is to transform the music space by partnering with artists, songwriters, and creative executives to steward legacy works and build future brand value. Headquartered in New York, Influence is supported by strategic partnerships with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Warner Music Group. Influence has made over 30 investments across music rights including Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), go-forward publishing, and go-forward recorded music rights. Influence’s robust portfolio features GRAMMY® winning and GRAMMY® nominated artists spanning diverse music genres, including platinum recording artist Future, Diamond-certified recording artist and songwriter Enrique Iglesias, country superstar Blake Shelton, songwriter-producer Tyler Johnson, Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy, singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, and more. Influence aims to disrupt the current ecosystem by creating fair, artist-first offerings around music rights and beyond.

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1BlackRock announced an agreement to acquire HPS Investment Partners on December 3, 2024.