IP Deal Tracker – Major Transactions from 16 April to 16 May 2025

Media & Entertainment

Chord Music Partners takes a minority stake in Morgan Wallen’s masters (≈ US $200 m).

Nashville label Big Loud sold part of the chart-topping country star’s existing and future recordings to private-equity-backed Chord. The cash helps Big Loud double down on A&R while Chord gains a fast-growing streaming asset that still has decades of royalty runway ahead.

Read more: Music Business Week

Intercept Music raises a US $50 m war-chest for indie-catalog acquisitions.

Three-year-old distribution platform Intercept closed a private financing partnership that it says will be deployed “immediately” to buy U.S. and Latin catalogues with “untapped revenue potential”. The company’s pitch: pair institutional capital with its AI-driven marketing stack to unlock upside the sellers could not reach on their own.

Read More: Music Business Week

Snap Inc. renews multi-year global publishing licences (~US $15 m over two years).

The National Music Publishers’ Association brokered fresh agreements that keep 9,000-plus publishers’ songs available for Sounds clips inside Snapchat and Bitmoji. For rights-holders it safeguards a growing revenue line; for Snap it removes litigation risk as daily users top 422 m.
Read More: Musically

Life-Sciences & Pharma

Novo Nordisk × Septerna – four-program GPCR obesity collaboration (up to US $2.2 bn).

The Danish weight-loss leader is paying > US $200 m up front for access to Septerna’s small-molecule GPCR platform, betting oral drugs can defend its Wegovy franchise against Lilly’s Zepbound. Four targets are already nominated, with milestones taking the headline above two-billion dollars.

Read More: Reuters

Eli Lilly × Alchemab – licences pre-clinical ALS antibody ATLX-1282 (up to US $415 m).

Lilly gains an option to co-develop a novel, naturally occurring antibody discovered via Alchemab’s memory-B-cell platform. Up-front cash is undisclosed, but the deal’s biobucks cover development, regulatory and sales milestones, plus tiered royalties.

Read More: Alchemab Press Release

LENZ Therapeutics × Lotus – regional rights to eyedrop LNZ100 for presbyopia (up to US $125 m).

Taiwan’s Lotus gets exclusive commercialisation across Korea and Southeast Asia, funding late-stage trials while LENZ retains North-America upside. The structure is cash-efficient for LENZ and gives Lotus a near-term launch product in ophthalmology.
Read More: GlobeNewswire

Tech, Telecom & Materials

SIM IP buys Finnish video-codec / networking portfolio from Fusionlayer.

The deal adds dozens of cloud-network and low-latency codec patents to SIM IP’s monetisation pool, strengthening its leverage with hyperscalers and IP-video OEMs; price was not disclosed.
Read more: TMCnet / PRNewswire

GTT Group puts a 70-asset hybrid-access-network package on the block.

The broker is marketing European and U.S. patents covering fixed-wireless convergence—timely as operators race to blend fibre backbones with 5G last-mile. Early interest reportedly includes both telcos and NPEs.
Read More: PRNewswire

Faircraft snaps up > 30 lab-grown-leather patents from VitroLabs.

By acquiring the DiCaprio- and Kering-backed U.S. pioneer’s IP, Paris-based Faircraft secures key tissue-engineering know-how as it scales production for luxury-fashion clients, positioning itself as a biomaterials IP hub.

Read more: Vegconomist

Screen IP

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners deal: rights revert to the director after 25 years.

Coogler accepted lower up-front compensation from Warner Bros. in exchange for first-dollar gross, final-cut approval and full copyright ownership in 2050. If exploitation windows keep proliferating, analysts reckon that could translate into ≈ US $1 m per year in perpetual licensing income.

Read more: Business Insider

Quick takeaways

• Music: Even with higher rates, headline multiples (15–20× NPS) persist for top-streaming catalogues and social-video licences.

• Pharma: Big-pharma obesity & neuro deals remain structured as multi-program options with hefty up-fronts to secure pipeline optionality.

• Tech/Materials: Mid-market patent packages (< US $100 m) are trading fastest, often via specialist brokers; buyers aim to bulk up ahead of connectivity standards and trade-war tariffs.

• Screen: Creator-favoured reversion windows are gaining momentum as a hedge against streaming’s unpredictable residual models.

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