Independent music firm Reservoir has announced plans to list itself on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York via a merger with a so called special purpose acquisition company going by the fun name Roth CH Acquisition II Co. Don't worry, once the deal is done the combined Nasdaq listed company will be known as Reservoir Media Inc.
Originally founded by Golnar Khosrowshahi in 2007 with a focus on music publishing, Reservoir has grown and diversified through a series of acquisitions over the years. Along the way, it grew its songs catalogue via deals with the likes of TVT, Reverb Music and P&P Songs, and also expanded into recordings, not least via its acquisition of the Chrysalis label. It also has interests in artist management and music consultancy via its partnerships with the likes of Big Life, Blue Raincoat and PopArabia.
Special purpose acquisition companies - aka SPACs or blank cheque companies - list themselves on stock exchanges with no active operations, raising money on the markets with the specific aim of then acquiring other businesses. Roth CH Acquisition II Co - a joint venture between Roth Capital and Craig-Hallum Capital Group - did just that last year.
Fans of tedious investment chatter might be interested to know that the merger of Reservoir and Roth CH Acquisition II Co "values the combined company at an enterprise value of $788 million and is expected to provide approximately $246 million in gross proceeds to the company".
Not only that, but the "transaction includes a fully committed of $150 million from institutional investors" and "existing Reservoir shareholders are rolling 100% of their equity as part of the transaction". Consider yourself informed!
Khosrowshahi will continue to head up the publicly listed Reservoir Media Inc which, the music firm reckons, "will be the first independent music company to go public in the United States and also the first female-founded and led music company to be publicly traded in the United States".