Partners Group launches new cross-sector royalty fund and expands its portfolio with eight new investments

• Partners Group has launched an evergreen fund for institutional investors; a fund for private wealth investors is launching soon 
• The firm’s royalty portfolio now has 30 investments diversified across multiple sectors, including entertainment, pharmaceuticals, and energy transition
• Recent investments in the entertainment sector include Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television music rights catalogue

Partners Group, one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, has launched an evergreen fund that enables institutions across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to access its multi-sector royalty strategy. The firm plans to launch a separate evergreen fund for private wealth investors in the same regions later this year. Additionally, Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, has committed to eight new private markets royalty investments in the last six months as it ramps up activity following the strategy’s official launch last year.

The new transactions span both established and emerging royalty sectors, in line with Partners Group’s thematic investment approach and its aim to build the first dedicated, scalable cross-sector private markets royalty offering. These new investments, which provide exposure to the entertainment, pharmaceutical, and energy transition sectors, take Partners Group’s royalty portfolio to 30 investments. The recent investments include:

• Investment into Warner Bros. Discovery’s catalogue of film and television music rights. The catalogue consists of over 500 titles, including some of the highest rated and most viewed film franchises and television shows of all time, such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Succession, and Friends. The investment involved Warner Bros. Discovery moving the rights into a joint venture and is one of the largest music rights transactions in history. 
• Royalty-backed note on Multimedia Music, a leading pure-play acquirer of film and television music rights from composers and independent studios. The company’s portfolio has over 400 titles, including The Dark Knight, Hunger Games, Fantastic Beasts, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Supernatural. Royalty-backed notes are debt instruments typically secured against a portfolio of royalties that rank ahead of the equity owner, with potential upside through the accrual of equity over time.
• Pharmaceutical royalty on the only FDA-approved non-surgical therapy against urothelial cancer. The underlying product is well established in oncological treatment, while the royalty also benefits from future extensions of the product to other conditions such as bladder cancer.
• Commitment to a dedicated pharmaceutical royalty fund that focuses on approved products developed by innovative biotech and life sciences companies.
• Creation of a highly structured royalty across a portfolio of multiple producing and near-term producing natural gas wells in the Central Oklahoma Anadarko basin in the US, providing long-term exposure to US gas prices.
• Acquisition of the rights to the back catalogues of a top-tier global artist and songwriter, multiple BAFTA and Emmy Award nominee composer and conductor, and a prominent contemporary US band.

Stephen Otter, Managing Director, Head of Private Markets Royalties, Partners Group, comments: “Over the last few months, we have capitalized on several attractive market opportunities in the royalty space as we continue to build a truly diversified royalty portfolio that exhibits low correlation to other asset classes. We have executed investments across multiple sectors and employed a varied range of royalty investment structures, including direct purchases of royalties, royalty fund investments, and lending against royalties, reflecting our strong sourcing and structuring capabilities. Our team is uniquely positioned to leverage Partners Group’s global investment platform, as well as its thematic and relative value expertise, to originate investments. We currently have a deep and rich pipeline of over 20 near-term royalty opportunities.”

Although Partners Group underwrites royalty investments with a view to a long-term hold, the firm has already completed its first exit. This involved the sale of a gold royalty portfolio that was acquired in 2022 and formed part of its established seed portfolio at launch. Partners Group sold its stake at a significant premium to NAV in 2024, crystalizing a return on that transaction of 43% gIRR and 38% nIRR, and 1.8x gTVPI.

Investors in Partners Group’s royalty evergreen funds will gain immediate exposure to its entire royalty portfolio. Partners Group has more than 20 years of experience in managing private markets evergreen funds and currently manages USD 45 billion in assets across its evergreen product suite globally.