Less than a year after it sold Taylor Swift<\/strong> the master rights to her first six studio albums<\/a>, Shamrock Capital<\/strong> has closed a new content acquisition fund with\u00a0total capital commitments of USD $813 million<\/span>.<\/p>\n The fund \u2013 Shamrock Capital Content Fund IV<\/strong> \u2013 will target entertainment rights including music, film, television, sports, video games, and creator economy opportunities.<\/p>\n Content IV<\/strong> was oversubscribed by first close and completed its fundraise in just over three months, according to Shamrock, exceeding its $700 million<\/strong> target.<\/p>\n The fund is the fourth within Shamrock<\/strong>\u2018s Content Strategy, which the firm says has grown to more than $3.3 billion<\/strong> in AUM across equity and debt products over the past decade.<\/p>\n Shamrock<\/strong>\u2018s previous three Content Strategy funds have been used to acquire music assets including the Stargate<\/strong> publishing catalog and a portfolio of more than 150<\/strong> songs<\/a> by Calvin Harris<\/strong>, alongside film and television rights.<\/p>\n The firm is perhaps best known in the music industry for buying Swift<\/strong>\u2018s masters from Ithaca Holdings<\/strong> in November 2020<\/strong>, in a deal that sources told MBW<\/strong> cost around $405 million, <\/strong>before selling the artist the rights<\/a> for an undisclosed fee 12 months ago.<\/p>\n Content IV<\/strong> will be managed by Shamrock<\/strong>\u2018s dedicated Content Strategy team, which has built and scaled the strategy since its inception.<\/p>\n That team also draws on Shamrock<\/strong>\u2018s nearly 50<\/strong>-year history investing across global media and entertainment \u2013 a history that dates back to the firm\u2019s founding in 1978<\/strong> as the family investment company for the late Roy E. Disney<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor more than a decade, we have invested in content and media rights, and this fundraise reflects the depth of the expertise and platform we have built at Shamrock,\u201d said Patrick Russo<\/strong>, Partner and Executive Committee member at Shamrock<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team brings proven experience across film, television, music, gaming, sports and beyond, which allows us to underwrite complexity and structure investments with a high degree of conviction.<\/p>\n \u201cAs content becomes more global, more valuable, and more complex to finance, we believe the need for sophisticated, long-term capital partners has never been greater.\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick Russo, Shamrock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cAs content becomes more global, more valuable, and more complex to finance, we believe the need for sophisticated, long-term capital partners has never been greater.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have built our strategy to meet that need for content creators and rights-holders worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are grateful to our existing and new investors for their support and energized by the compelling opportunities ahead of us across the global content ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Sklar<\/strong>, Partner and Executive Committee member at Shamrock<\/strong>, added: \u201cThe content landscape has never been more complex or more compelling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are witnessing a fundamental restructuring of how IP is created, owned, and monetized \u2013 and we believe we are uniquely positioned to see how all of these content worlds connect and converge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are long-term investors, and the trust we have earned alongside artists, creators, and rights holders is the foundation of everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Sklar, Shamrock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis fundraise is built on a simple but powerful conviction: the most valuable content assets are the ones that fans return to across generations, regardless of where or how they consume them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are long-term investors, and the trust we have earned alongside artists, creators, and rights-holders is the foundation of everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Shamrock<\/strong>\u2018s Content Strategy has expanded rapidly since its launch.<\/p>\n The firm raised over $600 million for Content Fund III<\/a> in early 2023<\/strong>, exceeding that fund\u2019s $500 million<\/strong> hard cap.<\/p>\n In July 2024<\/strong>, Shamrock<\/strong> acquired the Vine Alternative Investments portfolio<\/a> \u2013 including the Calvin Harris<\/strong> catalog \u2013 in what the Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported was the firm\u2019s largest-ever individual transaction via its Content Strategy.<\/p>\n\n
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