Private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management is nearing a deal to acquire a majority stake in SESAC, one of the biggest music-copyright enforcers, The Post has learned.
The buyout shop has offered around $600 million for 75 percent of the Nashville-based outfit, which represents Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and Lady Antebellum, among others.
The offer would leave SESAC co-owner and CEO Stephen Swid with a minority stake in the business.
Swid told The Post it was “premature” to say the offer had been accepted and that the board would consider it early next month. A source close to the talks, however, said the deal is as good as done.
Other offers from PE players had come in around the same price for 100 percent of the company. Warner Music Group, the third-largest music major, had also kicked the tires.
SESAC has been on and off the market for years, with the owners initially looking for closer to $750 million. The firm earns around $50 million a year before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
SESAC, which is also owned by boutique investment bank Allen & Co. and hedge fund Och-Ziff, was founded in 1930 to collect royalties when songs are performed in public.
These days it negotiates licenses with radio stations, TV networks and film studios. It competes with not-for-profits ASCAP and BMI.
Rizvi recently sold out of Hollywood assets including Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the “Twilight” franchise, and Tinseltown talent agency ICM. The firm, which also has made investments in Twitter and Playboy, declined to comment.
Music assets have been trading hands lately. Last week, KKR-backed BMG Rights snapped up record label Mute from Universal Music and the Rosetta song catalog from Sony/ATV.