UMG Board Mum On Take-Over Bid

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital bid to buy Universal Music Group for about $60 billion, offering to merge UMG with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings in a deal that would relocate the combined company’s listing from Amsterdam to the New York Stock Exchange and base it in Nevada.

If approved, the transaction — an unsolicited proposal confirmed by Universal — would close by year-end and create a new entity that Pershing says would address factors it believes have held down UMG’s share price despite a strong music business. Pershing CEO Bill Ackman said the issues are unrelated to UMG’s performance and “can be addressed with this transaction.”

UMG, one of the “big three” record labels with more than 30% of the global recorded-music market, represents artists including Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John, Coldplay and Billie Eilish.

Universal said its board has “complete confidence” in CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and management and will not comment further while it reviews the proposal.

One of the “big three” record labels alongside Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, it commands a market share of more than 30% of the global recorded-music business.