Reed Smith, DLA Piper and UK media and technology firm Sheridans have advised on music publisher Concord’s purchase of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks’ music back catalogue, including their solo work and material penned as rock band Genesis.

The deal gives Concord ownership of each artist’s entire works as recording artists and songwriters, including the master recordings and musical composition rights to classics such as Collins’s ‘In The Air Tonight’ and Genesis’s ‘Invisible Touch’, among countless other hits. Combined record sales of these works, including live albums and movie soundtracks, total more than 250 million copies globally. Concord paid more than $300m for the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal. The acquisition doesn’t include earlier Genesis work involving previous band members Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. 

Reed Smith and DLA Piper advised Concord on the deal, while Sheridans advised Collins, Rutherford and Banks.

Robert Sherman, co-chair of DLA Piper’s entertainment finance practice, said: “This transaction is particularly noteworthy because it reinforces Concord’s reputation as a home for artists and songwriters focused on preserving their legacy.”

DLA Piper’s team was led by Sherman in Los Angeles, alongside partners Gerald Rokoff in New York and Mark Dwyer in London. Associates included LA-based Kali Jelen and Payvand Coyle, Ryan Dieter in Philadelphia, John Wei in Boston, Rachel Fertig in Washington DC and Clara Fong and Devanshu Jain in London. 

Reed Smith’s team was led by entertainment and media group partners Stephen Sessa and Nick Breen and global corporate partner Michael Young, with support from senior associate Daryl Cue. 

Century City-based partner Sessa said: “The complex transaction involved multiple acquisitions of both individually owned assets and corporate holding vehicles. This deal represents another significant and important addition of iconic works to one of the most music-centric and artist-driven music companies in the world.”

Reed Smith has previously advised Nashville-based Concord on its purchase of music publishing company Imagem Music Group in 2017, a joint venture with Pulse Music Group in 2020 and its acquisition of Downtown music publishing assets last year. Concord has a catalogue of more than 260,000 song recordings and 600,000 copyrighted works spanning multiple genres. Among those works include music by West Coast hip hop group Cypress Hill, French electronic music duo Daft Punk, English rock band Pink Floyd, legendary US blues musician Robert Johnson, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev and many others.