Kirkland Represents Blackstone on Acquisition of SESAC

Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone (NYSE:BX), one of the world’s leading investment firms, on its acquisition of SESAC Holdings, a leading music rights organization, from Rizvi Traverse Management, a private investment firm. This transaction is Blackstone’s first investment as part of its core private equity strategy, which is specifically designed to hold private equity investments for much longer periods of time than traditional private equity funds. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2017. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The full release is available here.

The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Peter Martelli and Daniel Layfield and associates Keri Schick Norton, Michelle Miao and Brett Dovman; tax partner Mike Beinus and associate Adam Kool; debt finance partner Melissa Hutson and associate Yuli Wang; litigation partners Ian John, Michael Becker and Claudia Ray and associate Phil Hill; technology and IP partner Seth Traxler; labor and employment partner Richard William Kidd and associate Tatum Ji; employee benefits partner Melissa Renae Grim; executive compensation partner Michael Krasnovsky and associates Julia Onorato, Kate Coverdale and Laura Gallo; real estate partner Jennifer Sheehan; and environmental transactions partner Toby Chun and associate Jennie Morawetz.