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Apollo Global Management has provided a $1.25 billion equity investment tied to BMG, taking a noncontrolling interest in a BMG subsidiary that holds the legacy Concord asset-backed securities (ABS) backed by a catalog of more than 1 million songs. Apollo announced the deal around September 17, 2026—just over two weeks after BMG and Concord completed their merger on September 1.
In practice, the cash helps BMG repay portions of the ABS debt Concord had raised against royalty streams. Apollo’s stake sits in the subsidiary holding those securities, not as dilution of BMG’s topco ownership: Bertelsmann remains at 67% and affiliates of Great Mountain Partners at 33%.
Apollo’s Concord ABS history
Apollo-managed funds have backed Concord’s bond program since 2022, supporting more than $4.5 billion of ABS issuance. Concord’s July 2025 sale alone raised $1.765 billion against rights valued above $5.1 billion. The underlying catalogs include recordings and songs associated with The Beatles, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Kiss, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daddy Yankee, Phil Collins, R.E.M., and The Rolling Stones, among others.
Bertelsmann had separately flagged the Apollo capital at roughly €1.1 billion when announcing the merger’s close, describing it as enabling refinance and repayment of outstanding BMG/Concord ABS liabilities.
Combined BMG targets
The combined company—operating under the BMG brand, with a catalog of over four million works—has said it is targeting midterm revenue above $2.5 billion and EBITDA of $1.2 billion.
Source reporting: Music Business Worldwide