Don Jazzy Mulls Sale of Mavin Records for $200m

By Adedapo Adesanya

Top music producer, Mr Michael Collins Ajereh, fondly known as Don Jazzy, is reportedly considering selling his music label, Mavin Records, for up to $200 million, according to a report from Billboard.

The top label, which houses music stars like Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon, and LadiPoe, among others, is also seeking an equity investment, with a few names being put forward for interest.

According to sources cited in the report, bids have come from the Universal Music Group, HYBE as well as from music asset investors in the financial sector.

The deal will be handled by Shot Tower Capital and the proposed value is above $125 million and could be worth $150 million to $200 million. It was said that this may or may not involve the music catalogue of signees under contract at the label.

The acquisition will see the legendary Nigerian music business executive, who founded the label more than 10 years ago, remain in place and retain some form of control over its destiny.

An offshoot of Mo’ Hits record, Mavin was formed in 2012 after the former ally of Don Jazzy, Dapo “D’Banj” Oyebanjo split from the music producer. The label has gone on to further the careers of established artists like Tiwa Savage, D’Prince, and Dr Sid and launched the careers of Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, and Di’ja. The new phase of the label saw the emergence of Rema, Ayra Starr, Magixx, Boy Spyce, and Crayon.

Label mates Rema and Ayra Starr are stellar assets of the label. In the US, Rema has 287 million streams and Ayra Starr has 203 million streams. Rema’s collaboration with Selena Gomez in the USA has over 860 million streams, accounting for less than one-tenth of the song’s total activity of over 9 billion streams.

The acquisition of the label could see the expansion of the Nigerian popularised genre Afrobeats which encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others continue to explode around the globe.

The movement has gained momentum to the point that the Recording Academy recently introduced a new Grammy Awards category for best African music performance, which will be awarded for the first time at the forthcoming awards in February.