Classical music publishers Boosey & Hawkes has been bought by rival publisher Imagem Music, the previously reported joint venture (though we called them ImageMusic last time we reported on them, because I'm sure that's what they called themselves at the time) set up by indie music publishers CP Masters and Dutch pension fund ABP. Imagem is the outfit that bought a chunk of the publishing catalogues Universal was forced to sell when it acquired BMG Music Publishing.
B&H's most recent owners, equity outfit HgCapital, confirmed the sale on Friday, with this delightful quote: "The sale completes a successful four-year investment for HgCapital, and represents a significant return following its original acquisition of Boosey & Hawkes, then a public company, for £75 million in December 2003". So, that's lovely.
B&H will continue to be run by current CEO John Minch and his existing management team, who have been busy reinventing the company in recent years to respond to the various new opportunities that exist in the music publishing domain. Confirming the deal from ABP's side, Head Of Strategy Ronald Wuijster told reporters: "We view this transaction as a great add-on to our recent acquisition of certain catalogues with popular music content from Universal Music Group. This acquisition of the largest classical music rights catalogue in the world greatly diversifies our portfolio and strengthens our position. We are committed to be a long-term investor in this space".