Believe has officially completed its multimillion-dollar acquisition of Doğan Music Company, which is said to be the largest indie label operating in Turkey. Photo Credit: Believe
Believe has officially completed its acquisition of Doğan Music Company, which is billed as Turkey’s largest indie label.
The Paris-headquartered buyer reached out with word of the deal’s wrap today, after first announcing the play closer to the top of August. At the time of the latter disclosure, the investment was still subject to regulatory approval in Turkey, where Believe had taken a 60% stake in Doğan in 2020.
With that years-old move having evidently proven lucrative, Believe exercised a call option for the remaining 40% or so. This purchase for the outstanding piece brought a $42.65 million (€38.3 million) price tag, according to the expansion-minded business, which didn’t hesitate to drive home its “full ownership” of the Turkish label.
Said label’s roster features a number of artists across a variety of genres, with rock band Yüksek Sadakat, pop singer Yonca Evcimik, and rapper Reckol alike part of Doğan, per its website.
Meanwhile, on Believe’s side, the company pointed to a nearly 25% year-over-year revenue increase in Europe (excluding France and Germany) for H1 2024, at $169.22 million/€152 million. In Asia-Pacific and Africa, Believe experienced a roughly 4% YoY revenue improvement at $129.57 million/€116.4 million, the appropriate report shows.
And as described by the Sentric owner, which opened an Istanbul office in 2012, it’s poised to work towards “supercharging the growth and global reach” of the Doğan roster.
Elaborating on that objective, Believe president for META, East and Southern Europe, and the Americas Viktoria Siniavskaia emphasized the continued development of Turkey’s music market.
“The Turkish music industry has undergone a massive change since Believe’s launch in the market back in 2012,” relayed the 13-year Believe exec, “with a solid growth of streaming and countless artists and labels reaching new and wider audiences both locally and beyond.
“On Spotify alone, the Top 100 list went from 11 local artists in 2013 to 91 in 2023! I couldn’t be prouder of Believe having been a key driver in this evolution, alongside DMC and our digital partners, boosting the digitalization of the market and that of local music genres,” concluded Siniavskaia.
Closing with a recap of Believe’s other 2024 buildout initiatives, July saw the business take a 25% interest in Romanian dance label Global Records and move forward with Greater China executive appointments ahead of a wider expansion in the increasingly lucrative region.
