Vinyl Group strengthens digital footprint with $2.3m Serenade acquisition and planned UK expansion
Australia’s only publicly-listed music company Vinyl Group (ASX: VNL) has acquired UK-based Web3 collectibles pioneer Serenade in a $2.3 million deal expected to accelerate the global expansion of its Vinyl.com digital platform.
Serenade’s digital marketplace serves more than 200 global artists including Muse, Sum 41 and Twenty One Pilots, while sales of its near-field communication (NFC)-enabled Smart Formats option have grown 56% month-on-month since launching in January.
Serenade also has commercial partnerships with more than 100 global record labels including Warner Music Group, Beggars Group, Concord, Glassnote, FUGA and PIAS.
Scrip plus earn-in deal
Vinyl acquired 100% of Serenade’s assets (excluding its research and development receivable) in exchange for 8.2 million shares at the 15-day volume-weighted average price of $0.097, for a total value of $800,000.
A further $1.5m in shares will be paid to Serenade shareholders if the combined business of Vinyl.com and Serenade achieves a minimum revenue target of $4m and EBIT of $500,000 in the first 12 months.
Vinyl will also purchase Serenade’s UK subsidiary on a debt-free, cash-free basis for $1 with a one-month put option, for the purposes of expediting the expansion of Vinyl.com into the UK and Europe.
Management addition
As part of the acquisition, Serenade chief executive officer Max Shand will join the Vinyl Group management team to continue leading Serenade towards its performance goals and help accelerate the Vinyl.com business expand its product offerings into physical and digital collectibles and launch into additional markets.
“Max Shand has built Serenade into a business with significant potential and, through our acquisition of the platform, we’ll put the resources into Serenade to allow it to reach that potential,” Vinyl Group chief executive officer Josh Simons said.
“Vinyl Group is, at its core, a tech business and this was a great opportunity to expand our tech offering.”
“We look forward to welcoming Max and other key members of the Serenade team to Vinyl Group.”