QuotedData's James Carthew: What led up to SONG's takeover battle

Bidding war continues

When Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) launched back in July 2018, the world was a different place.

The investment companies sector was riding high – the median fund was trading on a 5.8% discount to net asset value (this figure was 14.5% at the end of March 2024), and including SONG there were 22 new issues that raised £3.6bn in 2018. The last IPO of any size was what is now Asia Energy Impact in December 2021, and that has been a disaster. Blackstone ups offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund to $1.57bn The big shift since then has been in the economic backdrop – interest rates in the US were under 2% in July 2018 and in the UK, they were just 0.75%. Equity markets had been strong and ...