THE board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) has recommended a cash acquisition by American private equity giant Blackstone.

Blackstone's $1.30 (£1.04) in cash per share bid, which is higher than the $1.25 (£1.00) per share revised offer that came from Concord Music last Thursday, values Hipgnosis at about $1.57bn (£1.25bn).

HSF's board intends to recommend that shareholders accept the offer, saying it has "decided to withdraw its recommendation for the Concord Revised Offer".

It comes after Blackstone has reportedly been working on finalising a proposal to buy the music royalty investment fund that owns the rights to The Rolling Stones and Shakira (pictured) over the weekend.

Robert Naylor, chair of Hipgnosis, said: "The Board is pleased to unanimously recommend this US$1.6 billion Offer for Hipgnosis from Blackstone. Since we started our strategic review, we have been clearly focused on looking at all the options to deliver shareholder value."

Qasim Abbas, senior managing director of Blackstone, said: "The breadth of the Blackstone platform, combined with our operational expertise, will support and enhance the value of the acquired rights."

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