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Dec 21 (Reuters) - Hipgnosis Songs Fund reported on Thursday a fall in the value of its assets, as the music royalty firm battles to secure its future following a shareholder rebellion.
The London-listed fund, which has the rights to catalogues of artists including Shakira, Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers, said its operative net assets value per share stood at $1.7392 as of Sept. 30, down 9.2% from the end of March.
Shareholders in October voted against the fund's plans to sell a chunk of music catalogues and ousted its chairman, forcing new management to put forward proposals within six months or face a potential wind-up.
On Tuesday, Hipgnosis delayed its half-year results by two days, saying the valuation it had received from independent valuer Citrin Cooperman was higher than that implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector.
It said at the time that its investment adviser Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM) had provided only a "heavily caveated" opinion of the valuation.
On Thursday, as it published Citrin's valuation, the fund urged HSM to provide its opinion without caveats to give "greater certainty and transparency" to shareholders.
HSM declined to comment on the chairman's statement.
Hipgnosis posted a 14% rise in underlying net revenue to $65.8 million for the six months ended Sept. 30.
Both Hipgnosis Songs Fund and HSM were founded in 2017 by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis, who has managed the likes of Elton John, Beyonce, Iron Maiden and Guns N' Roses.
Last month, HML, a former business of Mercuriadis, launched legal action against Hipgnosis, HSM and Mercuriadis, accusing them of stealing a "business opportunity". (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Mark Potter)
