First State Investments has announced over USD130m of new investments into its FS Media Works Fund I, bringing the fund to an initial close.

First State Investments has announced over USD130m of new investments into its FS Media Works Fund I, bringing the fund to an initial close.

The FS Media Works Fund I, launched earlier this year, has attracted international end investors including an Australian based investment manager, a number of North American institutional investors and private wealth managers, in addition to First State's parent company, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The fund has ultimate capacity of up to USD350m and aims to generate minimum returns of 15% per annum over the life of the fund, net of fees.

The structure of the fund is a closed end English Limited Partnership with a Jersey General Partner, which invests in a diversified portfolio of media copyrights and related rights which are capable of generating consistent long term cash flows.

Underpinning the fund are stable music publishing catalogues that have a robust and sustainable royalty stream. These include all the music copyright assets originally assembled through the former DreamWorks Music Publishing and Wind-up Entertainment catalogues - previously one of the largest independently owned and operated record labels in the US.

Both were acquired by First State Media Group during 2007 and the wind-up deal included the rights for First State Media Group to acquire the future publishing assets from certain artists, providing the potential for future earnings growth.

Steve McMellon, managing director of First State Media Group, says: 'Music copyright assets are attractive for investors because they generate steady, reliable global streams of income, and have low correlation to market activity and other asset classes. The long term of protection afforded to copyright works provides investors with an ideal match for their long term liabilities.'

Mark Lazberger, chief executive of Colonial First State Global Asset Management, adds: 'We are pleased that in these volatile and uncertain markets First State has raised this level of long term capital from such a diverse group of international investors, and for such an innovative and alternative investment strategy.'