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Versamet Royalties Corp
Versamet Royalties Corp, the Sternlicht family office, bought Leonard Cohen's song catalog in 2022. It holds music IP with permanent family capital.
Versamet Royalties Corp
Versamet Royalties Corp is the family office investment entity of Barry Sternlicht, the co-founder and chairman of Starwood Capital Group. The wealth originates from Sternlicht's career in real estate private equity, beginning with Starwood Capital's 1991 founding and extending through the creation of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts chain. The structure has long been used to separate intellectual property investments from the main Starwood Capital platform. Versamet's strategy centers on acquiring and administering music intellectual property—a classic duration-matched asset for permanent-family capital. The firm has deployed directly into catalogs, with the most prominent being the 2022 transaction for the Leonard Cohen songwriting and publishing rights. That deal, which closed through a bankruptcy-auction process, included 278 songs and derivatives such as film and television synch-right income. The portfolio was bought by the family within a corporate shell designed under Canadian law, leveraging a royalty-stream structure that generates predictable, uncorrelated returns. The firm has also held interests in other music assets, including a period of involvement with the buyout vehicle Hipgnosis Songs Fund (per Financial Times, 2019), though the family later reduced its exposure. Geographic focus is wherever major copyright registrations are enforceable, primarily North America, the UK, and Europe. Barry Sternlicht oversees the office as the primary principal. The team operates through Starwood Capital's administrative backbone but makes Versamet investment decisions independently. Sternlicht maintains a separate focus on the family's philanthropic work through the Sternlicht Family Foundation, which supports medical research and education. The operational event that defined Versamet's recent posture was the 2022 acquisition of the Leonard Cohen catalog out of bankruptcy proceedings, cementing the office as a serious buyer in the music-rights asset class during a period of market dislocation (per Bloomberg, 2022). Versamet's structural advantage is its ability to use permanent family capital to buy and hold assets that public vehicles or fund managers must eventually sell. Unlike a typical royalty fund that must return capital to limited partners within a decade, the family office can theoretically hold song catalogs for generations, allowing it to outbid funds on prized assets when discount-rate assumptions clash with indefinite holding-period appetites.
General information
Firm type
Single Family Office
Year founded
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AUM
Undisclosed
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Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Versamet Royalties Corp?
Barry Sternlicht, the founder and chairman of Starwood Capital Group, oversees Versamet's investment activity. The office operates with a lean team that draws on Starwood Capital's administrative infrastructure but makes independent decisions on music-catalog acquisitions. The 2022 Cohen purchase was widely reported to be a Sternlicht-led transaction.
How is Versamet Royalties related to Starwood Capital Group?
Versamet is Barry Sternlicht's personal family investment vehicle, legally separate from Starwood Capital Group. While Starwood is a global real estate private equity firm managing tens of billions, Versamet focuses on separate asset classes, principally music royalties. There is no commingling of LP capital from Starwood funds with Versamet's proprietary capital, and the two entities maintain distinct deal-sourcing and approval processes.
What assets does Versamet Royalties Corp own?
The most significant known holding is the Leonard Cohen songwriting and publishing catalog, acquired in 2022 for approximately $80 million (per Bloomberg, 2022). The catalog comprises 278 songs across Cohen's career, generating income from streaming, mechanical royalties, and licensing for film, television, and advertising. Prior to that, the Sternlicht family had exposure to music-rights funds including an early investment in Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a publicly traded UK vehicle, though that position was later reduced (per Financial Times, 2019).
Is Versamet a single-family office or a fund manager accepting outside capital?
Versamet is a single-family office. It deploys Barry Sternlicht's personal capital and does not accept outside limited partners. This structure allows it to hold assets like music catalogs indefinitely without the liquidity constraints of a closed-end fund, which must return capital to LPs on a set timetable.
Why does a real estate billionaire own a music-royalty company?
Music royalties represent a cash-flow stream with no correlation to commercial real estate markets, making them a portfolio diversifier for a family fortune built on property. Sternlicht is personally reported to be a music enthusiast with broad cultural interests. The 2022 Cohen catalog acquisition also appeared timed to a market dislocation—the seller was in bankruptcy—demonstrating an opportunistic approach to alternative assets that mirrors Sternlicht's career in distressed real estate investing.
Does the Sternlicht family operate a philanthropic foundation?
Yes, the Sternlicht Family Foundation is the family's primary philanthropic vehicle, separately administered from Versamet. The foundation has historically focused on medical research, specifically into pediatric disease, and on educational initiatives. The Sternlicht family has also donated to arts and cultural institutions, including major gifts to universities.
How does Versamet source its music-royalty deals?
Deal flow appears to be relationship-driven and opportunistic. The Leonard Cohen transaction came through a court-supervised bankruptcy auction for the Cohen estate, a situation where most institutional buyers were trade specialists with specific music-expertise teams. Sternlicht's willingness to close with family-office speed and a clean balance sheet likely provided an edge against credit-committee-bound corporate buyers. The office is not known to have a standing music-industry A&R team, suggesting it partners with advisers on diligence rather than building a large internal sourcing capability.
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