The feature was originally published by Billboard on January 28, 2025
Billboard has named Apollo’s Lee Solomon and Paul Sipio to its 2025 Power 100 Finance list.
In the year when asset-backed securities, also known as securitization, came to the fore in the music industry, Apollo Global Management led the way with an $850 million debt placement for Concord in October. Sources say Apollo also played an undisclosed role in helping Sony Music Group finance the acquisition of the Queen catalog, which carried a $1.2 billion valuation. Sipio declines to discuss individual deals, but says, “This year, we provided a bespoke capital solution to Sony Music Group to support its business plan.” Solomon says that “since 2022, we have structured and anchored over $2.5 billion of asset-backed financing for Concord, making it the largest music securitization to date,” and adds, “With over $730 billion of assets under management today, our ability to provide creative, scaled capital solutions is perfectly suited to help drive strategic growth for music companies.”
Credit markets are entering 2025 in a solid position. Although risks may appear one-sided given spreads are near multi-year tights, we expect the fundamental and technical backdrop to remain strong.
Apollo believes Investment Grade Private has the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns but has been overlooked because it doesn’t fit neatly into the current asset allocation framework.
Market participants often ask why large corporate borrowers would choose a private solution for financing rather than the public markets, especially in the current environment. In this paper, we answer that question and explore the lasting power of private credit, the landscape of the debt markets, potential opportunities, and pitfalls to avoid.
