Global investment firm KKR has acquired a majority stake of the music catalogue of Ryan Tedder and his band One Republic.
The deal includes nearly 500 songs written by Tedder, who will retain an interest in his music alongside KKR.
“The music industry is undergoing an incredible period of transformation,” said Tedder of the move. “Streaming and all forms of digital content are not only providing new avenues for how we consume music, but also for how artists can reach new audiences in a much more immersive way. KKR really stood out to us from every metric that mattered and it truly impressed upon me and my team their commitment to music as a true focus and passion moving forward.”
Nat Zilkha, partner at KKR and chairman of Gibson Brands, a portfolio company of KKR, welcomed the deal, which includes One Republic's Counting Stars – one of Interscope Records’ biggest ever singles with 40 million sales.
“We are excited to partner with Ryan on both his extraordinary body of creative work and on pursuing future opportunities together. At KKR, we are focused on a number of investment initiatives across the music and entertainment industries and we believe Ryan’s unique combination of artistic brilliance and business acumen will help us amplify these efforts,” he explained.
“KKR’s collaborative approach across investment strategies allows us to provide highly flexible and creative capital solutions to artists and companies across the music and entertainment industry. We are looking forward to partnering with Ryan and other leading artists to support their art and innovation,” added Jenny Box, Partner at KKR.
“Ryan is one of the most creative artists of our time,” said Ron Laffitte, president of Patriot Management, Tedder's representatives.
“We were looking for a strategic partner to help us build on Ryan’s incredible success and find new ways to empower his artistic genius. KKR stood out immediately because they understand that the artist should be at the centere of everything that involves the creator’s creation.”
