Apollo Invests $1.25 Billion In Equity To Support BMG-Concord Merger

Apollo Global Management (N7I.DE ) announced on September 17, 2026 that Apollo-managed funds and affiliates have provided a $1.25 billion equity capital solution to support the recently completed combination of music companies BMG and Concord.

Under the terms of the transaction, Apollo acquired a noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary of BMG that holds the legacy Concord asset-backed securities (ABS), which are backed by a catalog of more than one million songs. Apollo’s equity investment enables BMG to repay certain outstanding ABS liabilities, according to the announcement. The combined company retains the BMG name and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

Apollo Partner Jamshid Ehsani described the investment as a tailored, non-dilutive equity investment that strengthens the combined company’s financial positioning as it enters its next chapter. “This transaction is indicative of Apollo’s growing role as a provider of high-grade capital solutions to leading corporations across an expanding range of industries and use cases, leveraging our scaled permanent capital base,” Ehsani said.

BMG Chief Executive Officer Bob Valentine said Apollo’s continued partnership and confidence in the company’s strategy further strengthens its financial foundation and positions it to champion artists and songwriters and to pursue global long-term growth opportunities. “The combination of BMG and Concord marks a defining moment in our company’s evolution,” Valentine said.

The transaction extends an existing financing relationship between Apollo and Concord. Since 2022, Apollo has supported Concord’s issuance of more than $4.5 billion of ABS debt through a long-term financing partnership, according to the announcement. Over the past five years, Apollo has originated more than $8 billion in music industry investments.

Deutsche Bank (DB ) served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Apollo. Goldman Sachs (GS ) served as financial advisor to BMG, and DLA Piper and Davis Polk served as legal counsel to BMG on the transaction.

The BMG-Concord Combination

BMG and Concord completed their combination on September 1, 2026, after receiving all required regulatory approvals. The transaction was first announced on April 28, 2026. The combined company spans music publishing, recorded music, theatrical rights, digital distribution, and film and TV, with Berlin serving as its European headquarters.

The combined company is owned 67 percent by Bertelsmann and 33 percent by affiliates of Great Mountain Partners. Affiliates of Great Mountain Partners received a one-time cash payment of $1.16 billion under the transaction terms.

Bob Valentine assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer effective at completion, with Thomas Coesfeld serving as Chairman. The board of directors consists of Coesfeld, Johannes von Schwarzkopf and Rolf Hellermann of Bertelsmann, Alex Thomson of Great Mountain Partners, and Steve Smith, a Concord founding partner.

The combined company holds a catalog of more than four million works and serves creators across genres and markets. BMG said that, based on a commitment by both shareholders to invest in the company’s further development, it aims to achieve revenues above $2.5 billion at an EBITDA of $1.2 billion in the midterm.

Bertelsmann and Great Mountain Partners announced the definitive agreement on April 28, 2026, as a cash-and-stock transaction under which Bertelsmann would hold a 67 percent stake and Concord’s shareholders a 33 percent stake managed by Great Mountain Partners, in addition to the one-time cash payment. The companies said at the time that the combined company would generate pro forma revenue of $2.2 billion and EBITDA of $730 million in 2026, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities.

In that April announcement, Coesfeld said the combined company would hold a repertoire of more than four million songs, and that Bertelsmann had invested more than $1.5 billion in content alongside the BMG Next strategic transformation program since 2023. Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, described the transaction as one of the largest in Bertelsmann’s more than 190-year history and said the United States was Bertelsmann’s largest market in 2025, accounting for 28 percent of revenue.