In recent years, the music industry has experienced a number of large-scale international acquisitions, including Sony Music's $255 million purchase of Brazil's Som Livre.
Back in March 2021, MBW alerted our readers to the Som Livre sale, and Sony Music announced the deal the following month.
We can tell you about the next big-money acquisition of an international music company today (March 16): Qanawat Music, a music distributor in the Middle East and North Africa.
Our sources tell us that the company is on the block for a substantial eight-figure sum, and that multiple large-scale music companies have kicked the tires on a potential acquisition.
Qanawat Music claims to be “the leading independent music distributor in the MENA region, with the largest Arabic Music Catalog worldwide”.
As things stand, we’re told, Warner Music Group is favorite to acquire Qanawat Music from its current owner, mobile tech firm Qanawat. Another major music company is also said to have made inquiries.
One other company who may have shown interest in Qanawat Music is Believe, which last year earmarked a €100 million annual budget with which to make international acquisitions in music.