Citrin Cooperman’s New Ownership
It is one of the key players in the valuation and advisory sector within the mergers and acquisitions market of the music industry. Now, Citrin Cooperman (CC) has an intriguing new owner…and a considerable price tag.
A group of investors under Blackstone’s leadership acquired a majority stake in New York-headquartered CC, buying out the firm’s previous investor, New Mountain Capital.
Financial Times reports that the deal gives Citrin Cooperman, which claims to be one of the largest professional services firms in the United States, an enterprise value exceeding $2 billion.
New Mountain Capital is a familiar name to BIE readers, of course. It’s a tech-savvy private equity firm that acquired a majority stake in BMI last year in a deal worth over a billion dollars.
New Mountain initially acquired a controlling interest in Citrin Cooperman in 2021, which valued the firm at that time at $500 million.
Services and Acquisitions
Citrin Cooperman, founded in 1979, offers tax, consulting, and accounting services to various enterprises and affluent individuals.
In the music industry, Citrin is best known as the home of music rights assessor Barry Massarski and his team.
Citrin Cooperman acquired Massarsky’s company, Massarsky Consulting, in 2022, just one year after New Mountain acquired a majority stake in CC. Massarsky subsequently became a partner at Citrin Cooperman.
Massarsky Consulting, which valued transactions exceeding $6 billion in 2021, worked on M&A transactions with companies like Downtown, Reservoir, BMG, SONGS, Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell Music.
Massarsky (and later Citrin) also served as an independent appraiser for the Hipgnosis Song Foundation after the firm went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.
The eagle-eyed among you may have already discerned a connection: funds related to Blackstone (which now owns Citrin Cooperman) acquired the Hipgnosis Song Foundation in a private deal last summer costing $1.584 billion.
(We’ll see, but this overlap may eventually lead to Citrin relinquishing some of its valuation responsibilities concerning music assets controlled by Blackstone in the future.)
Blackstone‘s interest in the music business extends beyond Citrin Cooperman and Hipgnosis.
Blackstone acquired SESAK from Rizvi Traverse Management in 2017, in a deal that valued the latter company at over $1 billion.
Today, Music group SESAC is managed by funds controlled by Blackstone’s Core private equity arm, while Hipgnosis is managed by Blackstone’s Tactical Operations unit.
These two divisions operate independently within Blackstone‘s global network.
Commenting on the new Blackstone/CC acquisition, Alan Badie, general manager of Citrin Cooperman, stated: “We are thrilled to have reached an agreement with Blackstone to invest in Citrin Cooperman as we enter our next growth chapter.”
He added, “Blackstone will enable us to make additional investments to expand our service and technology offerings as we remain committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences and fostering a best-in-class culture.
“We thank New Mountain for their years of partnership in helping grow our business.”
Eli Nagler, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Kelly Wannop, Managing Director at Blackstone, remarked: “Citrin Cooperman’s partners and employees have excelled in building the firm into a leader through their unwavering commitment to excellence and client service.”
“We are happy to invest in the business to help it continue to deliver high-quality offerings moving forward.”
Andre Moura and Nikhil Devulapalli, Managing Directors of New Mountain, noted: “We are proud of our successful partnership with Citrin Cooperman and are grateful to the management team, partners, and employees for our achievements over the past three years.
“We look forward to the continued success of Citrin Cooperman for the benefit of all its clients and stakeholders.”
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. serves as the financial advisor, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP are legal advisors to Blackstone regarding the CC acquisition.
Guggenheim Securities, LLC is the lead financial advisor to New Mountain and Citrin Cooperman, with Koltin Consulting Group providing additional financial advising to both parties.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Zukerman Gore Brandeis & Crossman, LLP, and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP are serving as legal counsel for New Mountain and Citrin Cooperman.
Blackstone majority-acquires Citrin Cooperman, one of music’s biggest valuation firms
