ATC Acquires Majority Stake in Raw Power to Form UK Artist Management ‘Powerhouse’
LONDON — Two of the United Kingdom’s leading music management companies have joined forces after ATC Management acquired a majority stake in Raw Power Management, whose clients include rock bands Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine.
Financial terms reveal that ATC paid £1.4 million ($1.8 million) for a 55% stake in Raw Power, which was founded in 2006 by CEO Craig Jennings, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor. Headquartered in London and with offices in Los Angeles, Raw Power’s other clients include The Mars Volta, The Damned, You Me At Six, Don Broco, Heartworms, Kid Kapichi, The Chisel and Refused.
Under the new partnership, Raw Power’s U.K. team, including Jennings and commercial director Don Jenkins, will relocate to ATC Management’s London headquarters. Both companies’ LA-based operations will also merge with immediate effect.
Trending on Billboard
Raw Power employs 14 staff across its U.K. and U.S. offices. The firm said there will be no job losses because of the deal.
According to a regulatory financial filing, Raw Power generated £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in revenue in the year ending Feb. 28 2023. Profit before tax was £326,000 ($412,000).
As part of the majority stake deal, ATC will loan Raw Power up to £1.3 million ($1.6 million) in additional funds to pay off historic debts. Listed among those liabilities in Companies House records is a £1.9 million ($2.4 million) loan from Phantom Music Management, the company of Iron Maiden’s long-time manager (and Raw Power co-founder) Rod Smallwood.
Since its formation in 2006, Raw Power has built itself into one of the leading rock artist management companies in Europe.
Bring Me The Horizon, who are managed by Jennings and the firm’s U.S. president, Matt Ash, won best rock/alternative act at this year’s Brit Awards and have surpassed 1 billion Spotify streams and more than 5 million equivalent album sales worldwide.
The British band’s most recent album, 2020’s Post Human: Survival Horror, topped the charts in the U.K. and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hard Rock albums chart. A sold-out U.K. and Ireland tour in January sold 140,000 tickets across 10 dates, says Raw Power.
ATC Management was founded in 1996, initially as a boutique ticketing and marketing business, before focusing on artist management. Part of the independently owned ATC Group, which also encompasses live booking agency ATC Live, merchandise company Sandbag and livestream business Driift, the management business represents more than 60 artists, including Nick Cave, The Smile, PJ Harvey, Yaeji, and Johnny Marr. ATC Live represents more than 500 acts, while Sandbag has relationships with 750 artists.
In 2021, ATC Group, which is headquartered in London and operates offices in Los Angeles and New York, listed on the U.K.’s Aquis Stock Exchange.
Commenting on the deal, Raw Power’s Jennings said the merger with ATC marked “a new era” for both companies and would turn them into a “powerhouse organization.”
“Both ATC and Raw Power value integrity, belief in the acts we look after, passion for the music and doing everything for the benefit of our artists,” said Jennings in a statement. “This feels like a massive opportunity to take our artists to a whole new level.”
“At heart, our two companies have a common purpose – to support artists and empower them to achieve their creative and commercial goals,” said Adam Driscoll, CEO, ATC Group. “By coming together and combining forces, the capacity to deliver on those goals has increased substantially.”
