Brookfield to Acquire Stake in Primary Wave in $2 Billion Deal

Paul, Weiss is advising Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in its acquisition of a significant minority stake in Primary Wave Music as part of a new strategic partnership valued at over $2 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Brookfield will provide a $1.7 billion capital funding commitment in addition to purchasing the minority stake.

Primary Wave’s music catalog consists of over 800 Top-10 singles, more than 400 #1 hits and some of the most legendary names in music, including Prince, Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Stevie Nicks, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Bing Crosby and Def Leppard, among many others. Brookfield’s funding and assistance on future growth initiatives and transaction structuring will strengthen Primary Wave’s financial positioning as brand manager of iconic songs.

The Paul, Weiss team includes corporate partners Ted Ackerman, Cullen Sinclair, Robert Zochowski, Marco Masotti, Aaron Schlaphoff, David Huntington and Matthew Abbott, counsel Caitlin Kelly, Julie Martinelli, Marc Palumbo, Mikhel Schecter and Elizabeth Scherer; tax partners Scott Sontag and Patrick Karsnitz; intellectual property partner Charles Googe; executive compensation partner Lawrence Witdorchic, counsel Jake Glazeski; restructuring partners Brian Hermann and Kyle Kimpler; litigation partner Geoffrey Chepiga and counsel Steven Herzog and Peter Jaffe; real estate partner Salvatore Gogliormella; and antitrust counsel Yuni Sobel.