Primary Wave and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. announced on Wednesday (April 29) the closure of its IP Fund 4, with total commitments of $2.225 billion.
Primary Wave exceeded its initial target of $1.5 billion, as well as its cap of $2 billion, with a release claiming it marks “the largest closed-end music royalties fund raised to date.” The fund features an investor base that includes insurance companies, pension funds, endowments and large family offices.
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“This fundraise validates both the platform we have built at Primary Wave and our conviction that an active, aggressive hands-on approach to marketing music is what drives superior long-term returns for our investors and growth in value to our artists,” Primary Wave CEO Larry Mestel said in a statement.
This funding raise creates Primary Wave’s fourth intellectual property fund, and follows a 2022 raise from Brookfield that injected $1.7 billion into the company for a third fund, and saw Brookfield become a minority shareholder.
Craig Noble, CEO of Brookfield’s Credit business, added, “Primary Wave has built a category-defining platform in music IP, with a clear track record of sourcing, scaling and enhancing high-quality assets. The success of this fundraise reflects both the strength of their strategy and the growing role of music royalties within institutional portfolios. We are excited about our long-term partnership with the company.”
So far to date, Primary Wave’s Fund 4 has invested $700 million across catalogs for The Notorious B.I.G., Village People, Neil Sedaka, Robert “Kool” Bell, Thin Lizzy and more. The company has stakes in the catalogs and rights of artists such as Whitney Houston, Prince, Bob Marley, James Brown and Luther Vandross, among many others.
“We are thrilled with this exceptional result, and most importantly with the group of thought leading global institutional investors which has joined us in Fund 4,” Bill Cisneros, president of Primary Wave IP Investment Management, said in a statement.
Last month, Primary Wave acquired Kobalt for a sum that could reach $1.5 billion, with the deal expected to close in the latter half of 2026, a tie-up that will create a new indie music behemoth. Once the deal is finalized, Kobalt will continue operations as a standalone company, while Primary Wave serves to benefit from the company’s publishing administration and digital collections platform, amra.
This week, Primary Wave also acquired a stake in Harry Chapin’s catalog, in a deal that includes Chapin’s publishing, recorded master royalties and name, image and likeness rights.
