By Jess Jones
Hipgnosis has shaken up its management team in the battle to save the London-listed fund that owns rights to songs by artists ranging from Neil Young to Beyoncé.
Robert Naylor, previously non-executive chairman of Round Hill Music until its sale to Alchemy Copyrights, will chair the board with immediate effect.
Music industry veteran Francis Keeling immediately takes up a role as non-executive director after holding the same position at Round Hill Music before its recent sale.
He arrives after a stint as global head of licensing at Spotify and almost 10 years as global head of digital business for Universal Music Group.
The leadership changes will not come as a surprise to weary investors who recently rejected continuation at the company, against board recommendations, and ousted chairman Andrew Sutch along with two directors.
Yesterday, the fund, which was founded by chief executive Merck Mercuriadis and musician Nile Rodgers in 2018. said it would skip dividend payments until at least its next financial year to save cash. It is the second cancellation in a month.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: “The investment company is in a real mess and big decisions need to be made about its future.
“The board needs to act fast to determine whether some of the portfolio needs to be sold to raise cash to help pay down debt, new people need to be found to manage the assets or if the business should simply be wound up.”
