Concord, the US music rights group that bought Round Hill Music Royalty last year, has done it again, swooping on Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG ) with a $1.4bn recommended cash offer.

The agreed price of 93.2p ($1.16) per share offers investors a 32% premium to last night’s close and is pitched at a 4.3% premium above the fund’s operative net asset value which was slashed earlier this year.

The shares jumped 31%, or 22p, to 92.6p in early trading.

SONG chairman Robert Naylor, who also chaired the Round Hill fund, urged shareholders to accept the deal and for Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Song Management to negotiate an end to its fund management contract. 

Naylor said the shareholder payout would increase by $25m if HSM agreed to terminate its management contract.

‘The acquisition represents an attractive opportunity for our shareholders to immediately realise their holding at a premium, mitigating the risks we see ahead to achieving a material improvement in the share price.

‘At the same time, the board is confident that Concord, one of the world’s leading independent music companies, is the right owner to take on the Hipgnosis catalogue and manage it in the interests of composers and performers.’

He added: ‘We would now encourage Hipgnosis Song Management, the company’s investment adviser and Blackstone, which is HSM’s majority owner, through funds they manage and/or advise, to agree an orderly termination of the investment advisory agreement.

‘This would enable the payment of a larger consideration under the agreed transaction with Concord and bring to an end a period of uncertainty for all Hipgnosis stakeholders.’