Billionaire Invoice Ackman is one essentially the most highly effective behind-the-scenes gamers within the trendy financialized music rights trade.
In keeping with Common Music Group‘s 2023 annual report, Ackman, through Pershing Sq. Holdings, controls 10.25% of the corporate’s inventory, making him UMG’s second-largest particular person shareholder behind Vincent Bolloré.
Ackman additionally sits on UMG’s board.
Now, he’s asking for a structural uprooting of UMG’s domicile and public itemizing in Amsterdam; Ackman desires each moved to the US.
UMG says no less than a few of that request might be out of the query.
Ackman declared on X on Friday (November 8) that he desires UMG to maneuver its itemizing from Amsterdam’s Euronext inventory change to a US change – the NYSE or Nasdaq – by the tip of 2025.
Ackman additional declared that he’d began inside conversations about shifting UMG’s domicile (aka its international company HQ, presently positioned in Amsterdam) to the US.
Ackman believes that shifting UMG’s itemizing out of Amsterdam and into the US would increase the corporate’s public worth.
Nonetheless, the “tipping level” for Ackman’s suggestion, in line with the investor, had been assaults on November 7 in opposition to Jewish folks and Israeli residents in Amsterdam following a soccer match.
Ackman, who is understood to be politically outspoken on Twitter, is Jewish and married to an Israeli-American, Neri Oxman.
Wrote Ackman: “I’ve [begun] the dialog with Common Music Group (on whose board I sit) which is domiciled in Amsterdam in addition to listed there, about shifting its domicile and its itemizing to the US, which is able to supply related in addition to different extremely materials advantages.”
“Pershing Sq. has a contractual proper to trigger UMG to be listed within the US.”
Invoice Ackman
He added: “Pershing Sq. has a contractual proper to trigger UMG to be listed within the US. We are going to train this proper and obtain a US itemizing for UMG no later than a while subsequent yr. UMG trades at a big low cost to its intrinsic worth with restricted liquidity in important half as a result of it not having its main itemizing on the NYSE or Nasdaq and never being eligible for S&P 500 and different index inclusion.
“We’re going to repair this. Now is an effective and acceptable time to take action.”
On Saturday (November 9), Common Music Group replied to Ackman’s options in an organization assertion. It learn:
“We have now taken word of Invoice Ackman’s put up in relation to Pershing Sq. and UMG on X yesterday. Neither UMG nor any of its different board members had been concerned within the formulation of the views in that put up.
“As disclosed in UMG’s itemizing prospectus, Pershing has the precise to request a list within the US topic to a Pershing entity promoting no less than [USD] $500 million in UMG shares as a part of the itemizing.
“Pershing doesn’t have any proper to require UMG to change into a US domiciled firm or delist from Euronext Amsterdam.”
Common Music Group assertion
“Pershing doesn’t have any proper to require UMG to change into a US domiciled firm or delist from Euronext Amsterdam. Whereas the corporate will endeavor in good religion to adjust to its contractual obligations with respect to endeavor the method of a US itemizing on the request of Pershing, any actions or choices past these essential to comply (together with any choices to vary the domicile of the corporate) shall be based mostly on an evaluation making an allowance for what’s worth maximizing and in one of the best pursuits of all of the shareholders of the corporate.”
With its 10.25% present share, Ackman/Pershing Sq. owns a stake in UMG presently value round EUR 4.45 billion – equal to USD $4.77 billion. (UMG has a present market cap on the Euronext of EUR 43.37 billion).
In different phrases, in line with UMG’s assertion, Ackman/Pershing must be prepared to re-list round a tenth of its present Amsterdam-based UMG shareholding within the US (i.e. hitting that $500m threshold) to power a brand new itemizing on the Nasdaq or NYSE.
Even when that occurs, although, it doesn’t have an effect on Ackman’s different requests: that UMG relocate its official domicile, or delist from the Amsterdam Euronext completely.Music Enterprise Worldwide
