Kirkland & Ellis advised Kobalt Music Group, a Francisco Partners portfolio company, on a new partnership with investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value to invest more than $700 million to acquire music copyrights over the next few years. As part of the venture, Kobalt will manage the creative, synch, licensing and administration services for the copyrights. The leading independent music publishing destination for artists, songwriters and publishers, Kobalt is powered by innovative technology created as an alternative to the traditional music business model. Kobalt serves over 700,000 songs, representing some of the biggest songwriters in the world, including Roddy Ricch, Max Martin, FINNEAS, Karol G, Andrew Watt, Stevie Nicks, Phoebe Bridgers, The Lumineers, Gunna, Justin Quiles, The Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney and more. On average, Kobalt represents over 40% of the top 100 songs and albums in the U.S. and the UK. The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Chris Burwell and tax partner Devin Heckman; corporate associate Roni Zveiris; tax associate Allison Bray; and technology & IP transactions partners Seth Traxler and Shellie Freedman; with support from corporate partner Sean Kramer.