Billionaire Invoice Ackman is one probably the most highly effective behind-the-scenes gamers within the fashionable financialized music rights business.
Based on 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 needs each moved to the US.
UMG says not less than a few of that request might be out of the query.
Ackman declared on X on Friday (November 8) that he needs UMG to maneuver its itemizing from Amsterdam’s Euronext inventory trade to a US trade – the NYSE or Nasdaq – by the tip of 2025.
Ackman additional declared that he’d began inside conversations about transferring UMG’s domicile (aka its international company HQ, at present positioned in Amsterdam) to the US.
Ackman believes that shifting UMG’s itemizing out of Amsterdam and into the US would enhance the corporate’s public worth.
Nonetheless, the “tipping level” for Ackman’s suggestion, in line with the investor, had been assaults on November 7 towards Jewish individuals and Israeli residents in Amsterdam following a soccer match.
Ackman, who is thought 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 transferring its domicile and its itemizing to the USA, which is able to provide 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’ll 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 vital half on account 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 efficient and acceptable time to take action.”
On Saturday (November 9), Common Music Group replied to Ackman’s solutions in an organization assertion. It learn:
“Now we have taken observe of Invoice Ackman’s submit 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 submit.
“As disclosed in UMG’s itemizing prospectus, Pershing has the fitting to request a list within the US topic to a Pershing entity promoting not less than [USD] $500 million in UMG shares as a part of the itemizing.
“Pershing doesn’t have any proper to require UMG to grow to be a US domiciled firm or delist from Euronext Amsterdam.”
Common Music Group assertion
“Pershing doesn’t have any proper to require UMG to grow to be 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 enterprise 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 alter the domicile of the corporate) can be primarily based on an evaluation bearing in mind 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 at present price 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 pressure 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 fully.Music Enterprise Worldwide
