Believe, formerly Believe Digital, is a Paris-headquartered distribution company, in addition being an artist and label services operation, plus the owner of in-house record labels.<\/p>\n
The firm was founded by ex-Vivendi executive Denis Ladegaillerie in 2005, with Ladegaillerie continuing to lead Believe as its CEO today.<\/p>\n
Ladegaillerie’s co-founders of Believe were \u00a0Arnaud Chiaramonti and Nicolas Laclias.<\/p>\n
In April 2015, Believe announced it had fully acquired<\/a> DIY distribution platform TuneCore, which is headquartered in New York. That deal is understood to have cost Believe in the region of $40 million.<\/a><\/p>\n In June 2015, TCV \u2013 an investor in Spotify \u2013 announced it had<\/a> led a $60m investment into Believe.<\/p>\n In August 2016, Believe acquired French label group Naive<\/a>, for around \u20ac11 million ($12 million).<\/p>\n In September 2018, Believe acquired another French indie label, T\u00f4t ou tard, from owner Wagram Music, for a seven-figure sum.<\/p>\n At the time, Denis Ladegaillerie told MBW<\/a>: “We\u2019ve known T\u00f4t ou tard\u2019s founder, Vincent [Frerebeau] for many years. He\u2019s one of the leading independent figures in France when it comes to developing artists successfully, which he\u2019s done with a lot of top French [acts].<\/p>\n “We strongly believe that the model Vincent has successfully built \u2013 which combines the highest level of personal commitment with a unique know-how and a close proximity with artists \u2013 is the right model when it comes to artist development. It is the model we\u2019ve deployed ourselves in a number of countries.”<\/p>\n Believe then acquired a majority stake<\/a> in Germany-headquartered rock and metal label, Nuclear Blast, in October 2018, for an eight-figure fee.<\/p>\n In the same month, it fully acquired<\/a> one of Germany’s biggest independent distributors, Groove Attack, for an undisclosed sum.<\/p>\n
\nFinancials & prospective IPO<\/h6>\n