07:04 PST 2/13/2021
by
Alex Weprin
The largest music label in the world will be traded on the Euronext NV exchange in Amsterdam, if the public offering is offered.
French media conglomerate Vivendi says it plans to end Universal Music Group on a stock exchange by the end of 2021.
UMG, one of the ‘Big Three’ record companies with Warner Music Group and Sony Music, is based in Santa Monica, California and is led by CEO Lucian Grange.
The company announced the decision in a statement early Saturday morning, adding that the exchange would take place on the Euronext NV exchange in Amsterdam and that the value of the record company was estimated at $ 36.4 billion.
UMG’s artists include Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys, Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, J. Balvin and Coldplay.
In its statement on Saturday, Vivendi added that it would also distribute 60 percent of the company’s share capital to existing shareholders. Vivendi owns 80 percent of UMG, with a consortium led by China’s Tencent owning the remaining 20 percent. The Tencent consortium owned 10 percent of the label, but acquired an additional $ 3.7 billion stake in December last year.
Next month, a special meeting will be held to vote on a change in the corporate ordinance, which could allow the transactions to take place. After the approval is approved, a separate vote will be scheduled to approve the UMG spinoff and distribution.
The record companies are in the midst of an astonishing corporate revival, powered by streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as social apps like TikTok and Instagram, which license songs to use in posts by their users.
Warner Music Group, which is controlled by Access Industries, had its own exchange last year and raised $ 1.9 billion at a valuation of $ 15 billion.