Music Takeover Drama! Irenic Capital Wants a Slice of Reservoir Media

Hey music lovers, get ready for some big news straight out of the finance world that'll hit all the right notes! Activist investment fund Irenic Capital Management is making some serious moves with an unsolicited bid to take over Reservoir Media, a major player on the Nasdaq.

According to insiders whispering to Bloomberg, this bold bid values Reservoir at a whopping $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion, debt included, at about $10 to $11 per share. That's sparked a 15% leap in Reservoir's shares. Talk about a game-changer!

So, who's Irenic, you ask? They're already one of Reservoir's big shareholders, owning around 9.2%. Now, they're eyeing control and are chatting with private firms about loans backed by Reservoir’s epic song catalog. But here's the twist—it's not clear if Reservoir’s ready to sell the farm yet.

Word is, anybody who wants to seal the deal will need to win over Wesbild Inc, which holds a massive 44% of Reservoir’s equity. Quick trivia: Wesbild is helmed by the dad of Reservoir’s CEO, Golnar Khosrowshahi. Keeping it in the family, huh?

Behind the scenes, Irenic has been busy stirring the pot. Over the last year, they've been pushing for Reservoir to shake things up and find new ways to boost shareholder value—sounds like a reality TV plot but with more dollar signs!

Reservoir's been around since 2007, went public in 2021, and boasts bragging rights over a stellar music catalog featuring legends like Joni Mitchell and Sheryl Crow. Recently, they snapped up jazz great Miles Davis’s catalog and inked deals with icons like Gladys Knight.

Reservoir's cash register is singing too! In the last quarter of 2025, they bagged $45.6 million in revenue, up 8% year over year, with profits soaring by 11%. So, who wouldn't want a piece of that pie?

(P.S. Irenic's founders, Adam Katz and Andy Dodge, are finance whizzes with creds in top-shot management slots. Talk about a power duo!)

What do you think, gang? Will Irenic manage to jam their way into Reservoir’s playlist, or will it be a hard pass? Stay tuned as this music biz rollercoaster unfolds!