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Hipgnosis keeps the hits coming with £250m fundraising

Hypnosis already owns the rights to Adele's hit song, Set Fire to the Rain
Hypnosis already owns the rights to Adele's hit song, Set Fire to the Rain

The FTSE 250 company that has spent hundreds of millions on the rights to some of the world's biggest pop hits aims to raise another £250m to continue its buying spree.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund founder Merck Mercuriadis is calling on investors to bank roll a fresh round of deals after pinpointing a further 50 song catalogues he wants to acquire.

Hipgnosis has invested in excess of £800m on more than 13,000 songs, including tracks by Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, Adele and the Kaiser Chiefs.

It is attempting to raise £250m  by placing 215m ordinary shares at 116p apiece.

A separate raise of up to £4.2m will also take place on PrimaryBid, a London Stock Exchange-backed platform handing retail investors the chance to buy into companies raising capital.

Mr Mercuriadis said the fund had made a "significant impact on the songwriting community" and support from creators was leading to "further opportunities on evergreen songs and catalogues".

Since listing in London just over two years ago, Hipgnosis has raised more than £860m to buy the rights to songs and associated intellectual property.

It invested more than four fifths of its fundraising from July, snapping up a string of catalogues spanning from Chrissie Hynd to Rick James.

Copy of Markets Hub - Hipgnosis Songs Fund
Copy of Markets Hub - Hipgnosis Songs Fund

In August, it bought the recording royalties of 917 songs by Barry Manilow, the singer of hits such as Copacabana, Mandy and Could It Be Magic.

It came just days after the company secured the catalogue of four-time Grammy winner Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who has written and produced smash hits for the likes of Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Brandy and Sam Smith.

Announcing the latest fund raise, Hipgnosis said its investment manager had secured "exclusivity" on 50 catalogues valued at about £250m.

Talks are also underway to gain the rights to songs worth more than £1bn within the next three months.

Shares fell 5.4pc to 119.1p.