US EditionBill Ackman's Pershing Square proposes $64 billion merger deal with Universal Music Group
The cash-and-stock offer would give UMG holders $10.9 billion and 0.77 shares in the new company, Pershing Square said.
- On Tuesday, Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of Universal Music Group in a transaction valued at around $63.5 billion.
- Ackman praised CEO Lucian Grainge for building a world-class artist roster but argued UMG's stock has 'languished' due to uncertainty regarding the Bolloré Group's 18% stake and a delayed U.S. listing.
- Shareholders would receive about $10.9 billion in cash plus 0.77 shares of new stock per existing share, representing a 78% premium. The deal would merge UMG with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings into a Nevada corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Representatives for UMG did not immediately respond to the proposal on Tuesday. The company, home to artists including Taylor Swift, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar, has maintained silence while markets assess the acquisition bid.
- The transaction aims to leverage U.S. GAAP accounting standards and enable S&P 500 index eligibility for the new entity. This strategic shift seeks to resolve capital-allocation issues while preserving the company's investment-grade balance sheet and long-term financial flexibility.
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Critical factor should be how the Bolloré group, the main actor of the world's largest music recorder, will be positioned
Wall Street mogul Ackman proposes acquisition of Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label home to Swift. Bill Ackman (59), chairman of Pershing Square Capital and known as a prominent activist investor on Wall Street, has moved to acquire Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's largest record label. In a statement on the 7th, Ackman stated that UMG's corporate
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Bill Ackman has a message for Universal Music Group’s lagging stock price: It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. On Tuesday, the enigmatic hedge fund manager proposed a €55 billion (or roughly $63.5 billion) takeover of Universal Music Group, saying he could revive the Amsterdam-based company’s “languished” stock price in large part by moving to America and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. To pull it off, Ackman is proposing a sort of SP…
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