Revealed On 7 Apr 2026
Billionaire investor Invoice Ackman’s Pershing Sq. has proposed a takeover of Common Music Group in a $64bn deal, the newest twist in his practically five-year quest for the music label large.
Pershing Sq. proposed a cash-and-shares supply on Tuesday via its acquisition car that values Common Music at about 30.40 euros ($35) per share, a 78 p.c premium to the final closing worth of 17.10 euros ($20), making the deal value 55.75 billion euros ($64.31bn).
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Common Music Group (UMG) – the corporate behind worldwide superstars, together with Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar – is predicted to maneuver its itemizing to New York from Amsterdam, paving the way in which for extra buyers, together with index funds, to personal the corporate and finally result in extra sturdy earnings and a better valuation.
Common Music declined a Reuters information company request for remark.
For Ackman, one of many world’s most voluble buyers, who cemented his fame and fortune as an activist investor, forcefully pushing company America to undertake modifications, it is a far friendlier strategy, buyers and business analysts stated.
Even because the music business is flourishing, UMG’s share worth has lagged, one thing Ackman is pledging to repair with this proposed deal.
Ackman’s letter to Common Music Group’s board carried a combined tone, at occasions complimentary of present administration, led by chairman and chief government Lucian Grainge, and important of the corporate’s “underutilized steadiness sheet” and dealing with of its 2.7 billion euro ($3.1bn) funding in Spotify Expertise.
Fears of AI disrupting the music business have performed a job in UMG’s lacklustre efficiency. Its share of the music market has been sliding, and streaming progress is decelerating, Wells Fargo analysts famous. In March, UMG delayed its plans for a US itemizing.
Nonetheless, Ackman will want the assist of UMG’s prime shareholders – Bollore Group, which holds an 18.5 p.c stake, and Vivendi, which owns 13.4 p.c – to push via any transaction. China’s Tencent is a big shareholder. French billionaire Vincent Bollore’s household controls 80 p.c of UMG’s voting rights.
Previous goal
Ackman first flirted with Common Music Group in 2021, when his Pershing Sq. Tontine Holdings, a shell company created to take a non-public firm public, zeroed in on its goal. However Ackman shelved the complicated deal within the wake of heavy US regulatory scrutiny. As a substitute, Pershing Sq. grew to become one in every of UMG’s greatest buyers in 2021, and Ackman sat on its board till final yr.
Submit transaction, Ackman stated Grainge ought to stay Common Music’s chief government.
Ackman stated he and former Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz met with Grainge over dinner “a few weeks in the past” to debate the potential merger.
“Lucian inspired us to ship it in,” Ackman stated.
Ackman proposed including new administrators, together with Ovitz – who shepherded the careers of Madonna and Michael Jackson – who would change into the board chair. Moreover, two representatives from Pershing Sq. would get seats, he stated, not saying but whether or not he could be one of many administrators.
Shares of UMG, which is listed in Amsterdam, have been up 13 p.c on Tuesday, whereas Bollore Group climbed 5 p.c. Shares in Vivendi have been up greater than 10 p.c.
Pershing purchased a ten p.c stake in UMG from Vivendi forward of its 2021 Amsterdam IPO and has since repeatedly pressed for a New York itemizing, arguing it will enhance UMG’s share worth and liquidity.
Pershing presently has a 4.7 p.c stake, making it UMG’s fourth-biggest shareholder.
UMG’s shares have misplaced virtually a 3rd of their worth since its IPO.
Whilst world music revenues develop yr after yr, UMG and different main labels, like Sony and Warner Music, are scrambling to remain aggressive as streaming companies from Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Deezer take an ever higher share.
They’re now additionally contending with disruptions introduced on by the enlargement of AI – from copyright disputes to the arrival of song-generating AI instruments – that threaten to upend how music is created, consumed and monetised.
One survey final yr discovered {that a} staggering 97 p.c of listeners might distinguish between AI-generated and human-composed songs.
Beneath Tuesday’s proposal, Pershing’s SPARC Holdings would merge with UMG, and the brand new entity would change into a Nevada company listed on the New York Inventory Trade.
