The music group Universal Music (UMG) rejects the takeover offer from Pershing Square Capital, led by US investor Bill Ackman.
UMG announced on Friday evening after a supervisory board meeting that the company valued the offer too low. In addition, this does not create any added value. The Supervisory Board is convinced that the rejection will meet with broad approval.
At the beginning of April, Pershing presented plans to take over UMG for 56 billion euros. On the stock exchange, the company is valued at almost 36 billion euros based on Friday’s closing price. Over the course of a year, the share price has fallen by almost a third.
Pershing’s plans include merging the world’s largest music company with US-based acquisition vehicle SPARC Holdings. The investor offers a total of 30.40 euros per UMG share. The shares went out of trading on Friday at 19.50 euros. The shareholders of UMG are to receive 5.05 euros per share in cash, as well as 0.77 shares of a new company for each UMG share held.
Universal Music Group has a wide range of artists under contract. These include stars such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish as well as German artists such as Clueso. The agreement would force a US IPO, which UMG has so far delayed. Management had postponed a plan to list the stock in New York in March because of the uncertain market environment. The US investor Ackman is looking for ways to increase the share price. In a letter to the UMG board of directors, he wrote that the paper was suffering from an underutilized balance sheet and uncertainty.
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