Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo Credit: Kate Trysh
With an eye on expanding its presence in MENA’s quick-growing music markets, Influence Media Partners has taken a stake in what’s being billed as today’s “first investment platform dedicated exclusively to Arabic music catalogs.”
BlackRock-backed Influence reached out with word of the investment and the debuting company, IPNation. Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, IPNation counts as co-founders Anghami’s Eddy Maroun (who’s aboard as chief innovation officer) and longtime financial professional Jose Maria Dot (CEO).
And with a current “target investment size of $100 million,” the entity intends to scoop up recordings, compositions, and the all-important name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights alike.
In general, as demonstrated by the capital-heavy catalog sub-sector’s mountain of already-wrapped acquisitions, small plays and blockbuster deals are on the table – with certain deep-pocketed parties actively pursuing both types of investments.
According to its detail-oriented website, however, IPNation will zero in on “(m)ature catalogues with stabilised royalty streams,” paying between $2 million and $10 million apiece across 10 to 20 transactions.
Based on these parameters as well as flexible ownership requirements, IPNation won’t lack purchase options, and it’ll be interesting to see what the newly minted business scoops up. At the top level, the objectives and the sizable funding are indicative of MENA’s above-mentioned streaming-powered growth.
“Arabic music and entertainment IP represent one of the most undervalued cultural asset classes globally today,” noted CEO Jose Maria Dot. “IPNation was created to institutionalize investment into iconic and predictable income-generating IP while generating upside through our IPNation Value Creation Playbook, bringing our music to larger audiences efficiently.
“We believe the Middle East is entering a new era where culture itself becomes a scalable financial asset,” the former FTI and Multiply Group exec concluded.
Moreover, this era is also coinciding with the implementation of bolstered rights frameworks in multiple Middle Eastern countries – chief among them the UAE, which in February saw its first CMO, the Emirates Arts & Music Rights Association (EMRA), ink a “landmark agreement” with SACEM.
From there, the EMRA closed out July by welcoming Qanawat business development VP Hani Masgidi as association director. And yesterday, the UAE unveiled new public performance licensing fees ahead of a planned December collections kickoff spearheaded by the EMRA.
Meanwhile, Influence and IPNation aren’t alone in making long-term bets throughout the region. Reservoir-partnered PopArabia has been targeting strategic acquisitions in MENA for some time now, for instance, and 14 months later, the Sony Music-LuxuryKSA talent-discovery tie-up is in full swing.