2025-01-16 07:47:53 :
Universal Music Group NV has agreed to plan to sell U.S. shares by Sept. 15 to fulfill a deal with billionaire Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square.
The Amsterdam-listed entertainment company will use reasonable efforts to initiate an underwritten offering to sell shares owned by Pershing Square, according to a statement Wednesday.
The agreement between Pershing Square and UMG requires Ackman’s company to sell $500 million worth of its U.S.-listed stock, according to a post on Ackman’s X account following UMG’s announcement. Pershing Square’s total investment in UMG is worth $3.3 billion, according to Ackman’s post.
Ackman wrote that Pershing Square believes a U.S. listing would significantly increase the valuation of UMG shares and demand for those shares from investors who are limited to purchasing U.S.-listed securities. It could also draw more analyst attention to Universal Music Group and significantly improve liquidity, he wrote.
UMG Amsterdam shares rose 1.1% on Wednesday, with the company’s market value reaching 44.3 billion euros.
A few months ago, Ackman said he had begun conversations with Universal Music Group about moving its home and going public, writing on X that Pershing Square had the contractual rights to bring Universal Music Group public in the United States. UMG responded that while the hedge fund could request a U.S. listing if it sold at least $500 million worth of shares, Pershing Square had no authority to require UMG to register in the U.S. or delist from Euronext Amsterdam.
UMG is the largest music company in the world and home to artists such as Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
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