Billionaire investor Invoice Ackman purchased a ten p.c stake in Vivendi’s Common Music Group for $4 billion, valuing the world’s largest document label — which is residence to Drake, Taylor Swift and Billy Eilish — at round $42 billion.
Ackman’s blank-check firm Pershing Sq. Tontine Holdings and Vivendi introduced the information on Sunday after weeks of deal talks. UMG, which is being spun off by French guardian firm Vivendi, nonetheless plans to listing on the Euronext Amsterdam alternate in late September, the corporate stated.
Ackman’s SPAC stated it should distribute UMG shares to shareholders “promptly following the completion of the itemizing.” Vivendi, managed by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is planning to money in on its profitable music firm by spinning off the entity to present shareholders.
Earlier this 12 months, a consortium led by Tencent Holdings purchased an extra 10 p.c stake in UMG bringing the full fairness managed by the Chinese language tech titan to twenty p.c.
“The arrival of main American buyers gives additional proof of UMG’s international success and attractiveness,” Vivendi stated in a press release asserting the deal.
Ackman’s Pershing Sq. Tontine, which has entry to about $2.9 billion in money, stated it intends to pursue one other enterprise mixture with an working enterprise promptly after the UMG deal closes.
The blank-check firm pointed to UMG’s sturdy working revenue progress of greater than 20 p.c per 12 months since 2017 and analysts’ predictions that working revenue will hit $1.78 billion in 2021 on income $9.51 billion.
Tontine turned the largest ever SPAC when it raised $4 billion in an preliminary public providing final summer season, with Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Sq. committing a minimal of an extra $1 billion.