KOCH To Get New Owners

The same public market investments that many believe robbed the major labels of their entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and stomach for artist development, is now finding its way into the independent music sector.

Entertainment One, the firm that owns leading North American indie distributor and label KOCH, is being acquired by the UK’s Marwyn Investment Management under the moniker Earl Street Capital Ltd.  Earl Street earlier this month entered into a conditional agreement to buy all of Entertainment One for $167 million USD including estimated debt of $58.6 million.  Entertainment One had originally purchased KOCH in 2005 for approximately $80 million.

Earl Street proposes to raise equity via a stock offering and that together with debt underwritten by TD Bank will fund the acquisition and provide working capital. It would also be common for lay-offs and cut-backs to follow.