The Novel Financing That Powered The Weeknd & Lyric Capital’s Billion-Dollar Deal

New details about how The Weeknd and Lyric Capital financed a blockbuster deal that moved the Starboy artist’s back catalog into a new joint venture are trickling out — and that financing included royalty-backed notes financed by the Swiss-based investment firm Partners Group, according to a press release.

Using this type of debt makes The Weeknd and Lyric co-owners of a new entity that holds artist Abel Tesfaye’s entire back catalog, allowing the artist “freedom to utilize the publishing and masters’ rights over the catalog,” according to the press release. The Weeknd and Lyric Capital raised $1 billion — including $750 million in debt — in a deal that gave Lyric a 25% equity stake in artist Abel Tesfaye‘s masters, Billboard reported earlier in December.

Partners Group did not disclose the sum of the royalty-backed notes, which it said “enables artists to monetize back catalogues while retaining control over their work.” The global investment firm that has historically focused on real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets launched a dedicated royalty investment strategy in 2024, an evergreen fund that acquires royalties across life sciences, energy transition and entertainment. Partners aims to hold $30 billion of assets under management in its royalty strategy by 2033, of which entertainment and music royalties will likely comprise $6 billion to $9 billion, the company has said.

In January, Partners announced investments in the film and TV music catalog of Warner Bros’, which is managed by a joint venture with Cutting Edge Group, and in a royalty-backed note issued by film and TV music rights catalog company Multimedia Music.

“To be able to add The Weeknd, who is one of the most commercially successful contemporary artists of all time, to our portfolio … speaks to the underlying quality and reach of our strategy,” Stephen Otter, Head of Royalties, Partners Group, said in a statement.

Consistently ranked among the world’s most-streamed artists, The Weeknd’s catalog generates stable, growing revenue that is considered diversified because of its different fan groups spread around the globe. Buying exposure to that revenue through the royalty-backed notes gives Partners a low-risk, high upside potential way to be “aligned with the artist,” Otter says.

Partners has invested more than $210 billion in private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure since its founding in 1996.

This article was first published by Billboard Pro.