TORONTO, CANADA (April 15, 2024) – Northleaf Capital Partners (“Northleaf”), a global private markets investment firm, today announced that it served as the lead arranger of a US$100 million asset-backed second lien credit facility to Cutting Edge Group (“CEG”), an established investor in and manager of niche media music rights. Headquartered in London, CEG’s portfolio of music film, tv and wellness music assets is highly diversified with more than 2,000 titles across soundtrack albums, publishing assets and royalty income streams, including music that has been featured in productions such as The Office, Ted Lasso, NCIS: Los Angeles and Stranger Things, among others.
"Northleaf's investment in Cutting Edge is a great fit for our asset-based specialty finance strategy which seeks to provide our investors with diversified and low correlation exposure,” said David Ross, Managing Director & Head of Private Credit at Northleaf. “This investment represents an attractive addition to our investors’ portfolios.”
"Northleaf is an experienced investor in music royalties and we are pleased to be working with the team as we continue to execute our growth strategy and scale our platform,” said Philip Moross, CEO of Cutting Edge Group. "The Northleaf team understands our long-term goals and has provided a capital solution to meet our evolving needs."
“Cutting Edge is a leading full-service provider of music for the TV and film industry and has built an outstanding reputation,” said CJ Wei, Director, Private Credit at Northleaf. “We are thrilled to support Cutting Edge’s talented management team and provide them with the resources they need to successfully execute upon their strategic growth initiatives.”
Northleaf’s private credit program seeks to provide investors with diversified exposure to private credit investments globally, with a focus on floating rate loans to middle market companies and specialty finance platforms in North America, the UK, Europe and Australia. Northleaf brings a flexible approach to investing with the ability to provide senior debt, junior debt, structured capital and equity to support leading specialty finance platforms.
About Northleaf Capital Partners
Northleaf Capital Partners is a global private markets investment firm with more than US$25 billion in private equity, private credit and infrastructure commitments raised to date from public, corporate and multi-employer pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions and family offices. Northleaf’s 250-person team is located in Toronto, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Menlo Park, Montreal, New York and Tokyo. Northleaf sources, evaluates and manages private markets investments, with a focus on mid-market companies and assets. For more information on Northleaf, please visit www.northleafcapital.com.
About Cutting Edge Group
Cutting Edge Group is a majority family-owned business that specializes in acquiring and managing media music rights. Founded in 2006 and led by CEO Philip Moross, a pioneer in the niche market of music for film and tv, CEG has assembled a portfolio of more than 2,000 titles across soundtrack albums, publishing assets and royalty income streams, comprising music that has featured in some of the world’s most recognized film, tv, theatre productions and video games, including John Wick, Elf, Star Trek: Discovery, Moonlight, The Office, South Park, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Morning Show, Stranger Things, The Crown, Suits, The Walking Dead, Bridgerton, Ted Lasso, Glee, Aquaman, Drive, Matilda: The Musical, Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In 2019, CEG expanded into the rapidly growing Wellness music genre with a focus on the acquisition of music rights used to improve health and wellness outcomes such as sleep, focus, and memory. Since then, it has assembled a significant portfolio featuring over 75 active songwriters and artists generating several billion streams, including the award-winning Liquid Mind, 2002, Bernward Koch and Peter Kater. For more information, please visit www.cuttingedgegroup.com.
Contacts
Sneha Satish
Stanton
t: +1.646.502.3556
e: ssatish@stantonprm.com
Nadine Cannata
Northleaf
Managing Director, Marketing & Communications
t: +1.416.477.6623
e: nadine.cannata@northleafcapital.com