Australia's Vinyl Group scores well in $1.6 million Serenade crypto collectibles deal

Vinyl Group, Australia's only listed music company, acquires assets of London-based Serenade, a platform focused on digital and physical collectibles, in a stock-based deal worth up to US$1.6 million did.

Vinyl launched its website last year and aims to recreate the record “box digging” experience in a digital format, CEO Josh Simmons said. decryption. The acquisition marks the group's expansion into the UK and European markets and strengthens its offering in the digital collectibles space.

“The plan has always been to expand Vinyl.com's offerings, including music merchandise, digital collectibles, and experiences that connect fans and creators, and the acquisition of Serenade was the next step in that process,” Simmons said. spoke.

Under the terms of the transaction, Vinyl made an upfront payment of $553,000 in stock and an additional $1 million in stock, subject to revenue and revenue targets.

The transaction closed over the weekend and Vinyl notified Serenade that due diligence requirements were successfully met. Following the announcement, Vinyl's share price soared more than 8% on the ASX market on Sunday, rising to a three-week high of more than $0.06.

Performance-related benefits require the combined Vinyl.com and Serenade business to achieve revenue of $2.76 million and earnings before interest and taxes of $345,000 within 12 months of acquisition.

Serenade operates a marketplace for physical and digital collectibles and has supported over 200 global artists, including luminaries such as Liam & Noel Gallagher, Muse, and Sum 41. Ta.

The company also works with major record labels such as Warner Music Group and Beggars Group.

Serenade runs on the Polygon blockchain, Ethereum’s layer 2 scaling solution. The company claims that its flagship product, an NFC-enabled digital “smart format” built on Polygon's infrastructure, has recorded 56% month-over-month sales growth since its January launch.

NFC-enabled digital smart formats are physical collectibles embedded with near-field communication technology that link to digital assets or experiences, typically hosted on a blockchain.

These formats allow users to access digital content such as music, exclusive videos, and digital artwork by interacting with physical items through smartphones and other NFC-enabled devices.

Serenade CEO Max Shand joins Vinyl Group on a full-time employment agreement. As part of the incentive package, Mr. Shand will receive 5 million options that vest in stages upon achieving certain performance goals.