Jay Z’s $US56m bid for Spotify rival has been accepted

Jay Z’s $US56 million public offer for Scandinavian company Aspiro, which operates high-def streaming platform WimP/Tidal, has been accepted.

The 45-year-old rap mogul made the bid of 464 million Swedish krona on behalf of Project Panther Bidco, a subsidiary of his S. Carter Enterprises. With a share of 59.1%, Jay Z will be Aspiro’s new owner following shareholder approval. 

In a statement released by Panther, it says its “strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro's platform, technology and services.”

Read the full statement below:

Project Panther Bidco, Ltd ("Panther"), an entity controlled by S. Carter Enterprises, LLC ("SCE") is pursuing a possible acquisition of Aspiro AB ("Aspiro"), based in Sweden. Aspiro is a media technology company in the forefront of the ongoing redefinition of music consumption. Through the subscription services WiMP and TIDAL, Aspiro offers a complete experience of higher HiFi quality. The platform encompasses audio, video and integrated editorial features. 

Panther believes that the recent developments in the entertainment industry, with the migration to media streaming, offers great potential for increased entertainment consumption and an opportunity for artists to further promote their music. Panther's strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro's platform, technology and services.

The acquisition is subject to shareholder approval. As such there is no guaranty that a transaction will take place.

Aspiro’s third quarter financials filing for 2014 states it has 512,000 paying subscribers – Spotify reached 15 million paying subscribers last month.

Tidal operates in the US, Canada and the UK, and the WiMP music service in Norway, Sweden and other parts of Europe. Tidal has a library of over 25 million tracks, 75,000 music videos, and curated editorial. While both services do offer audio quality akin to CDs, subscription fees are higher than market competitors, at $20 a month.

Jay Z joins fellow music entrepreneur Dr. Dre in the streaming market; Dre now works for Apple following its acquisition of Beats Music in August last year.