Bill Ackman Proposes Buying Universal Music Group for €56B
April 7, 2026 – 8:31 am
Pershing Square’s non-binding proposal values UMG at €30.40 per share, a 78% premium to its last closing price. Ackman argues the world’s largest music label has been undervalued by structural factors, including the Bolloré Group’s 18% stake and the postponement of a US listing, that have nothing to do with its underlying business.
Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management has submitted a non-binding proposal to the board of Universal Music Group (UMG) to acquire the world’s largest music label in a cash-and-stock deal that Reuters calculates at approximately €55.75 billion ($64.3 billion).
The offer values UMG at €30.40 per share, a 78% premium to the stock’s last closing price of €17.10. Under the proposal, UMG shareholders would receive €5.05 per share in cash, a total cash outlay of €9.4 billion, plus 0.77 shares of a newly created entity, New UMG, for each share held. The transaction would be structured as a merger with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, an SEC-registered acquisition vehicle, and the resulting company would list on the New York Stock Exchange under US GAAP accounting, making it eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion.
Ackman has framed the offer as a remedy for structural problems rather than a commentary on UMG’s music business. In a letter to UMG’s board, he noted that management under CEO Sir Lucian Grainge had “done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” but that UMG’s stock price had “languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business.”
The four factors he cited include: uncertainty over the Bolloré Group’s 18% stake in the company; the postponement of UMG’s planned US stock listing; underutilisation of UMG’s balance sheet; and the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm.
Pershing Square’s involvement with UMG dates to 2021, when Ackman acquired a 10% stake via a deal with Vivendi, UMG’s then-parent. That stake made Pershing Square one of UMG’s largest shareholders before UMG listed on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange in September 2021. The relationship has not always been smooth: Variety reported Ackman had been ‘sparring with UMG management’ since.
The proposed merger would cancel approximately 17% of UMG’s outstanding shares, leaving New UMG with 1.541 billion shares outstanding, while preserving the company’s investment-grade credit rating. Sullivan & Cromwell, White & Case, and Stibbe are serving as legal advisors to Pershing Square and SPARC. Jefferies is acting as financial advisor. The proposal is non-binding, and UMG’s board has not yet responded publicly.