EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DG Competition

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 12/01/2022

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32022M10422

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 12.1.2022 C(2022) 297 final

PUBLIC VERSION

Warner Music Group Corp 1633 Broadway NY 10019 New York United States of America

Influence Media Partners 450 West 14th Street, 6th Floor NY 10014 New York United States of America -

BlackRock Financial Management Inc. 40 East 52nd Street NY 10022 New York United States of America

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.1. On 9 December 2021, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Warner Music Inc. (United States of America), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group Corp. (together, “WMG”, United States of America), IMP GP, LLC (“Influence Media”, United States of America) and BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. (“BFM”, United States of America), acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Influence x Music Fund II, L.P.

OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.

OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).

Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË

Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.

(“The Initial Fund”, Cayman Islands), jointly controlled by Influence Media and by BFM, by way of the granting of control rights over the Initial Fund.

2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

- for Warner Music Inc.: a global music entertainment company with operations or distributors/licensees in almost all EEA Member States. Its activities are in the recorded music and music publishing businesses,

- for BFM: a corporation which offers portfolio construction, asset management and investment advisory services. BFM controls and manages investment decisions of the BLK-Anchor Investors in their capacity as investors in the Initial Fund,

- for Influence Media: adviser of investment funds formed to invest capital by third parties in the acquisition of music royalty rights, primarily publishing copyrights and/or master recordings, and further strategically manages the portfolios of such investment funds, seeking to optimize their revenues and the value of such portfolios,

- for The Initial Fund: partnership that invests in music assets, specifically recording rights and music publishing rights.

3.3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of paragraph 5(a) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

4.4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.

For the Commission

(Signed) Olivier GUERSENT Director-General

3Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 512, 20.12.2021, p. 5-6.

4OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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