Universal Music attracts the attention of US billionaire
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/06/2021 (1935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Universal Music Group is in talks to sell a 10% stake in a deal that would value the record label at about $40 billion.
Confirmation Friday of those talks arrive four months after Vivendi SE, the French media conglomerate that owns Universal, said that it might spin off the label that is home to Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, as well as the Beatles. The company last year acquired Bob Dylan’s entire catalog.
Universal, with its massive portfolio of artists, has benefited from the adaptation of music streaming across numerous platforms.
The 10% stake would go for around $4 billion and would be funneled through a special-purpose acquisition company, Vivendi and Pershing confirmed Friday.
A SPAC is typically a group of larger investors who raise money for acquisitions and then seek out acquisition targets.
Pershing Square’s SPAC, called Pershing Square Tontine, raised about $4 billion last year. Pershing Square is run by billionaire William Ackman
Vivendi has talked of distributing 60% of Universal Music shares to its stockholders as part of any spinoff. Tencent owns a 20% stake of the music company and Vivendi has been in talks with the Chinese conglomerate as well.
Vivendi plans to list shares of Universal Music on Euronext Amsterdam later this year and Pershing said Friday that it would distribute the acquired Universal Music shares to its stockholders at that point.
