Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital has offered to buy Universal Music Group in a deal that values the world’s largest music company at about €55bn and would shift its listing from Amsterdam to New York.
The proposed transaction would involve Universal merging with a blank-cheque company set up by Ackman. It values each Universal share at €30.40, according to Pershing, which has owned a stake in the music group since 2021.
Universal shares, which have slumped more than 30 per cent over the past six months amid concerns that AI could squeeze the music industry’s profits, jumped 11 per cent in early tr