Sony Music Paid Universal $125 Million for Its Stake in Alamo Records
Universal Music’s share of Todd Moscowitz’s Alamo Records was acquired by Sony Music Entertainment for around $125 million, with a total purchase of between $188 million and $225 million, according to Universal’s recent earnings report and an educated estimate by Music Business Worldwide published Thursday.
The company, which was founded as a joint venture with Universal Music Group by the former 300, Warner Music and Def Jam exec in 2016, has been on a hot streak in recent years with Blackbear, Lil Durk and Rod Wave. Sources told Variety at the time that there was a buy/sell negotiation in the months leading up and UMG opted to walk away.
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While some sources at the time of the June 2021 deal put the sale price at $250 million, MBW spied an item in Universal Music Group‘s recently-issued annual fiscal report stating that Sony Music paid €102 million (around $123 million, which MBW rounded up to $125 million) to buy UMG’s interest in Alamo, which was presumably 50%, with Moscowitz owning the other half.
While that would place the valuation at $250 million, it is unclear how much of Moscowitz’s half Sony purchased. MBW reports:
• If Sony acquired an additional 25% from Moscowitz on top of the UMG piece (to take Sony’s total stake in Alamo to 75%), Sony’s overall spend on the deal would have been approximately $188 million.
• If Sony acquired an additional 30% from Moscowitz (to take Sony’s total stake in Alamo to 80%), Sony’s overall spend on the deal would have been approximately $200 million.
• And if Sony acquired an additional 40% from Moscowitz (to take Sony’s total stake in Alamo to 90%), Sony’s overall spend on the deal would have been approximately $225 million.
However, a source close to the situation tells Variety that those speculative numbers are high.
Contacted by Variety, a rep for Sony Music declined comment. David Eisman and Glen Mastroberte from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom repped Todd Moscowitz and Alamo in the transaction.
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