UMG Issues Statement on Bill Ackman Acquisition Proposal
Lucian Grainge
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Universal Music Group issued a brief statement Monday addressing Bill Ackman‘s proposal to acquire the record company, stating that the company’s board of directors and advisors “will review the proposal in accordance with its fiduciary duties and analyze its implications for shareholders, employees, artists, songwriters and other stakeholders.”
“The Board of Directors has complete confidence in UMG’s strategy and the leadership of Sir Lucian Grainge and the Company’s management team,” the company said. “UMG will have no further comment on the proposal until the Board of Directors completes its review.”
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Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management had unveiled its proposal late Monday, in a takeover bid worth about $63 billion. Ackman argued UMG’s stock is undervalued despite its status as the world’s largest music company, citing several factors including a delay to get UMG listed on the U.S. stock market (the company is currently traded out of Euronext and Ackman had pushed to get a U.S. listing too), as well as “suboptimal shareholder investor relations, communications, and engagement.”
“Since UMG’s [stock market] listing, [UMG chairman and CEO] Sir Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” Ackman said. “However, UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”
If a deal did happen UMG would be merged with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, and the company would become a Nevada corporation listed on the NYSE.
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