SKW Schwarz advises BMG on entry into live music business

Munich — SKW Schwarz Rechts­an­wälte has advi­sed BMG on the acqui­si­tion of a majo­rity stake in the inde­pen­dent German promo­ter Under­co­ver GmbH. The two compa­nies will work toge­ther in the future as part of a stra­te­gic part­ner­ship. Under­co­ver foun­der and CEO Michael Schacke and the 30-strong team will remain with the company.

The tran­sac­tion marks BMG’s first entry into the live music busi­ness in the company’s history. Under the umbrella of the Bertels­mann Content Alli­ance, the new divi­sion will also work with Bertelsmann’s other content busi­nesses in Germany, such as Medi­en­gruppe RTL Deutsch­land, RTL Radio, UFA, the Penguin Random House publi­shing group and Gruner + Jahr.

Under­co­ver GmbH was foun­ded in Braun­schweig in 1991 and orga­ni­zes over 200 concerts and shows a year in nort­hern Germany alone. In addi­tion, Under­co­ver deve­lops and produ­ces its own formats and has been booking tours and festi­vals of natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal artists in Germany, Austria and Switz­er­land for 15 years.

Consul­tant BMG:
SKW Schwarz Rechts­an­wälte, Munich: Dr. Matthias Nord­mann (Corporate/M&A, Lead), Eva Bona­cker (Coun­sel, Corporate/M&A), Dr. Martin Land­auer (Labor Law), Stefan C. Schi­cker, LL.M. (IP); Asso­ciate: David Leon Solberg (Corporate/M&A)