Hipgnosis, a company that bought up vast catalogs of popular music, is selling $1.47 billion of bonds backed by royalties from artists including Shakira, Journey, Red Hot Chili Peppers and 50 Cent.
The bonds from a unit of Hipgnosis Songs Assets will be backed by publishing and sound recording rights for more than 45,000 songs, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency, which is grading the notes. An independent valuation said that the total catalog is worth about $2.36 billion, based on projected cash flow from the assets. More than 70% of the songs were released more than 10 years ago.
